Empire State of Mind
by Gravity Angica
Summary: Zelda believes that princesses don't socialize with peasants and princesses know what's right and wrong and what the rules should be in society. She believes that the world is as simple as she sees it. Of course Zelda wasn't planning on being unwillingly drawn into a massive conspiracy that crumbles her entire world down. Not set in any Zelda timeline. Better summary inside. Zelink
1. Chapter 1

Author's notes:

DonotownZeldablahblahblahinsertlegalcraphere.

I don't really have a summary for this one since it's going to be a very elaborate story that I came up with.

First thing's first: I will try to update every week. The keyword here being _try_, why? Because I want to do my best on this story and give you readers the quality of story that I would expect myself. I've gone through a lot of thought to make this a really interesting story and I do not want to throw in some lousy chapter to make the week, so if one Friday you are found without a chapter, please understand that it is because I'm fixing it to meet the expectations.

Having gotten that out of the way I will address another issue: If the characters don't behave like they should or don't entirely look the way I describe them it is because they are not really those characters, think of them as descendants with very similar looks to the ones you know.

Last, but not least: The chapters will become longer as they go, which is more a bonus than a statement. I thought I'd address this now since this chapter is not nearly as large as the rest, but it is the first chapter and it stuck that way when I wrote it. I don't intend to change anything here. I checked everything and I am quite satisfied with it.

If you read this then thank you, I know not most people are interested in this section anyways.

Please enjoy.

LLL

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"Hurry up my dear, we can't be late now" bellowed the King from the vast hallway of the enormous castle.

Zelda rolled her eyes at the sound of her father's voice and kept struggling with the purple corset "In a minute, father!" she yelled back "This isn't exactly easy" she straightened herself up more, trying to help her maid Katerina finally tie the corset. The piece of clothing cooperated and fit Zelda perfectly, accentuating the curves of her waist and torso. Zelda gave a satisfying glance in the mirror and nodded "Finally" she said to herself and sat on her exquisite wooden dresser to straighten her golden hair and frame it around her face.

"Zelda!" her father tried again. Zelda sighted.

"Katerina, please go outside and tell my father that if he wanted to leave early then he should have warned me about it three hours ago" Katerina nodded silently and ran towards the hall to deliver the message, Zelda heard a frustrating sigh from her father and smiled at her small victory. She hated going to her father's meetings and hated more having to sit and hear all the Dukes, Earls, Barons and other titles try to charm both her and her father. She didn't mind the attention that the nobles gave her, but she did mind when most of her father's friends were considerably older than her, it wasn't in her to be around men twice her age that wanted to court her, but her father's orders, at least concerning the courting, was something that she couldn't weasel out of.

She tried to fix her hair in any other position before leaving, eyeing her maid from time to time. Katerina did not speak much; in fact, Zelda had seldom heard a word come out from her. She had beautiful sun kissed skin and brown hair that could look red in the right light; she was a bit shorter than Zelda and had bright red eyes. She had been a gift from her father, saying that Katerina came from a lost tribe of fighting women, but her father was full of fantasy stories of the sort so Zelda hardly paid attention to any of it.

"I think I've made father suffer for long enough" Zelda gave a smile at her maid who gave one in return and together exited Zelda's room.

"Finally" breathed her father as he waited for her in the final staircase leading to the door, Zelda grabbed an umbrella from its spot by the door and opened it to protect herself from the sun. It was a bright day and Zelda found it a relief from all the rainy days that she had seen over the past week. She was turning twenty and was not pleased to have had rainy days so continuously, now the Goddesses were smiling on her special day. She followed her father and got on the carriage that would take them to the beautiful house of one of her father's friends. Unfortunately, today was the day she had to try and pick a suitor for herself. She didn't hate the idea of marriage, but she knew that most men did not approve of her wild nature.

Her father gave a look at her feet in disapproval "Boots, Zelda? We talked about this, no man will-"

"Will want a woman that dresses as a man" Zelda raised an eyebrow as she completed her father's sentence. "I did not feel like wearing my heels, father. Besides, I believe that they fit me, don't you?" she said happily, moving her feet around for her father to see and ignoring the glare that her father gave her.

"At least cover them up with the dress. You're already making it impossible for me" he said and rubbed the bridge of his nose, Zelda sighted and looked at the window, placing a hand under her chin, she didn't understand why it was so impossible for her to show who she really was. If she could she would have ridden one of the horses pulling the carriages herself, but she knew her father would not only have a fit but would most probably tie her up and throw her in the carriage himself. He might have been old but he still had very strong arms.

"What have we rehearsed?" he said almost in annoyance.

"Do not question why the Duchess' dress gives her a strange lump on her bottom and do not ask the Baron why his hunting story is so funny" he sighted, not tearing her gaze from the window of the carriage. Her father gave her another glare.

"And?" he said loudly

Zelda glanced sideways at him before returning her gaze to her window "… And no running away from the party" she said in defeat.

"I meant it young lady, I'll be watching you" her father warned, Zelda scoffed but did not talk back to him; she knew that as soon as he was around his friends she was as free as a bird. She just needed to wait for the right time to escape.

They finally arrived at the enormous mansion of the Duke of Kyanes. Her father was greatly announced and she was helped out of the carriage, smiling at the lines of people waiting to greet them outside of the mansion. The Duke approached them with open arms and a wide smile on his face. "My most beloved friends, King Ellard and Princess Zelda, welcome, welcome!" he said and clapped his hands, motioning for them to enter his mansion.

Zelda arrived inside and found her friends waiting for her.

"Dear Zelda!" said a cheerful girl with light brown hair and black eyes, "How are you?" she was followed by four other women of various tones of brown hair color, each varying from blue to brown eyes and each wearing a different color of dress.

Zelda smiled at her friends and approached them as well. "Addison, Joana, Maggie, Monet, how are you?"

The girls surrounded Zelda to admire her new white and purple dress with matching corset.

"You look wonderful!" chided Monet, the only other girl beside Zelda that had blue eyes.

"It is wonderful to see you!" said Joana, "You know the Duke of Wallys has been asking a lot about you!"

"Yes, he's been waiting for your arrival!" said Addison, "In fact, he's talking to your father right now" she said and pointed to where her father stood. Zelda sighted in exasperation, the Duke of Wallys, Salvador, was an annoying man, he was coveted by most of the noble women but Zelda only saw him as an arrogant child who had way too much ego for her liking. He had been trying to court her by stating how much money he had and by flaunting the rich little gifts that he could give her, and Zelda couldn't imagine a bigger turn-off. She much preferred the Duke of Noals but he was already betrothed to a wonderful and shy Duchess. _Typical_, she thought, _The good ones are always taken_.

The fact that her father was talking to Salvador was not helping her avoid him either, he had placed a good idea on her father's head that she and Salvador were destined for each other.

She could gag.

Zelda spent the rest of the day and almost the entire evening managing to avoid him, but her luck struck out at the rise of night, when she unfortunately bumped into him while trying to get Joana to stop trying to pull her to the Duke.

"Hello there, my dear princess" she cringed at his sleazy tone of voice, she was going to kill Joana when she got herself free of this situation. She managed an awkward smile and tried to back away from him.

"My dear Duke, please forgive me but I-" she struck the wine table and cursed to the heavens for not having noticed that it had been there the entire time; it gave the Duke the perfect opportunity to trap her between him and the table.

"My you look beautiful in that corset, truly you women know how to make a man pine for you" he said and grabbed a wine cup from behind her, she quickly moved so he wouldn't brush her with his arm.

"It is…" she swallowed "Very flattering, sir but I really-" she tried to move to the left but he cut her off with his arm, she silently cursed.

"And your eyes, they are a vast ocean in which I could get lost" he said and tried to get closer to her, Zelda took this opportunity to use the wine cup to her advantage and moved her elbow below the cup, causing it to tip over and into the Salvador's vest.

"Oh I'm so sorry!" she falsely apologized, Salvador looked at the stain in disgust and tried to clean himself up "I will look for someone to help!" she chided and bolted for the doorway to the garden, taking a deep breath of relief as she approached the benches that curved the forest behind.

"Ugh, disgusting" she said to herself as she sat with her arms behind her, supporting her so she could see the moon start to rise in the sky. She didn't know how long she was going to keep lasting like that without having to outright slap him so he'd take the hint. She decided to stay in the garden and away from the party, but as time passed she felt a chill run down her back, as if something was watching her. She turned around to the forest to see if she got a hint but she didn't see or hear anything. However the feeling wouldn't leave her alone so she quickly stood up and walked back to the party.

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"Leaving already?" asked Addison as she rushed towards Zelda while she was making her way to the door.

Zelda wanted to run as far away as possible from the party, given that Salvador had made sure that she was almost never alone, he had even managed to find her in the stables and she was afraid that he would do something to her while they were alone. She turned to her friend with a false expression of sadness "Yeah, It's been… Quite a night and I am really tired"

"But Salvador's been looking for you! Are you just going to leave him like that?" said Addison as she grabbed Zelda's arm and tried to pull her back, Zelda's false sympathy smile grew more desperate as she tugged her arm back.

"I know! And you'll have to tell him that I am _so_ sorry to have to leave like this, but I really must go" Zelda grabbed her dress skirt and dashed out of the door before her friend could protest, thankful that she had decided to wear her boots that day. She quickly climbed into her carriage where her father was now sitting; she sat in front of her father only to have him stare at her quizzically.

"I thought you were staying a little longer, my dear" he began; Zelda looked at him with disbelief.

"Why would I do that?"

"Your friends told me you were having the time of your life with Salvador" he continued, Zelda sighted audibly and placed her head on her hand to look out the window again, her father looked at her with annoyance and defeat, his daughter was a very complicated person to talk with.

"I see that you and Salvador are getting along" the King continued rather happily as the carriage began its course to head back to the castle; Zelda stared at the window again "He is quite the young man, isn't he?" her father continued.

"Uhuh" she managed to make herself say, her father stared at her.

"Zelda" he sighted "I know he isn't the ideal man that you would wish for yourself, but he is a good man, he will-"

Zelda let out a scream as she and her father were suddenly thrust forcibly inside the carriage. The horses rapidly lost control of the car and the road, making the cart detach itself from the reins and the metal holdings, rolling out of control, away from the road and into a few trees, hitting and rolling very roughly. It took a few seconds for Zelda to get back her consciousness, she heard shots and screaming and quickly looked around, her father was nowhere to be seen and she could see shadows moving about outside of the carriage. She tried to get up from her lying position at the side of the turned cart and suddenly noticed her light was being blocked by something. She raised her head in alarm and saw a man covered in black with a strange black hat and scarf to cover his features. All was covered except for a pair of icy blue eyes that stared directly at her.

Zelda became paralyzed, she was too scared to move as those captivating eyes stared at her in surprise and then anger "_Shit!_" she heard him say before he thrust an arm at her and pulled her by her own, forcing her to come out of the cart and into the street, she saw her father and her knights fight a batch of darkly covered people, much like the one who was pulling her away from her father, she tried to scream for help but was muffled by a gloved hand coming from her captor. Her world suddenly started to fade as she smelled the faint scent of roses, everything suddenly turned dark as she fainted in her captor's arms.

LLL

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Author's notes: Just so you know, I do answer reviews if you would ever like me to.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Notes:

Donotownblahblahblah

I had forgotten to say a few other things on my first post but since I continue to have such a shot memory I decided that they can't be too important to mention anyways.

The summary still looks too short for me to actually say what I wanted to, which was that this is a Zelink based in some other time, not really attaching itself to any timeline at all. There are many references though, because the timelines itself are tied together. I didn't just rated it M for the language, although it's one of the reasons. I intend to place themes that would justify this to be rated M.

Enjoy.

LLL

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LLL

Zelda's head started to spin as she slowly woke up, starting to feel pain in her arms and parts of her leg while she regained consciousness. She began to look around and found herself lying in a strange bed with orange curtains around the bedposts, the room was bathed in a soft red light coming from the lamps that hung from the walls around the room; she noticed that they were covered with transparent red cloths. She turned her head to the right and saw a window that was closed by the velvet curtains that hung from the top, she wanted to keep inspecting the room but as she tried to stand up she felt a pain shoot through her arms which forced her to lie back down. She looked at the ceiling to try and make any sense of where she was, she thought about screaming for help but she was afraid that she would let her captors know that she was awake. She tried moving around some more when she started to hear voices coming through the closed door at her right. Zelda tried to listen in but could barely make out the conversation, that is, until they started screaming.

"You did _what!?_" Zelda identified the voice as female.

"You said he was alone! What was I supposed to do?" yelled a male voice back.

"He was _supposed_ to be alone! I didn't see him with anyone else the entire day!" yelled the female voice back.

"Enough!" bellowed the voice of what Zelda guessed was an older woman than the first female voice she had heard "It's done, we can't do anything about it now"

"Yeah but we lost! We wouldn't have lost if he hadn't been so busy-"

"I said _enough_" the older voice threatened, there was a silent pause before the older voice spoke again "Go check on Alice and you" she paused "You're taking care of this"

She heard footsteps before she heard the doorknob turning; she quickly closed her eyes and tried to relax her breathing so she could pretend to sleep as the sound of footsteps approached the bed.

"I know you're awake" said the husky male voice; Zelda flinched before slowly opening her eyes, seeing the same dark man that had taken her staring back at her. She said nothing, she had no idea what she could say to get out of whatever situation she was in and just go back to her home, so she just watched as the man looked over her bandages. "You're not bleeding, you'll be fine" he stated flatly and grabbed a chair that was in front of what Zelda had now noticed was a writing desk near the bed. He pulled the chair to the bed and sat on it, fixing the bandages on her left leg, Zelda tried to squirm away but it only managed to make the man more annoyed as he held her in place "Stay still"

"Who are you?" she managed to demand, she kept staring at the man and tried to figure out any movement that might end up killing her.

"None of your business" he stated coldly.

"Don't touch me" she said angrily and moved her feet away; she was suddenly finding the courage to be defiant. Zelda was scared; she needed to get away from wherever she was and whoever she was with. "Why am I here? Who are you?" she asked more desperately; when he didn't answer she tried to get up despite the pain in her arms "Where's my father?" she began demanding.

The man stopped trying to fidget with her bandages and stared at her, the cold glare of his eyes almost made her regret her questions, but she sat defiant, glaring back at him despite her fear.

"You shouldn't move like that" he said and pointed to her arms, making her fully aware of the pain that was now coursing through them. She ignored him.

"I am a princess! Do you know how much trouble you're in?" she tried to threaten him.

"Not as much as you will be if you don't shut up and do as I say" he said in a low voice; his threat had worked far better than hers ever had, she had a sudden fear for her life and decided that defying this man wasn't going to work. He made a move for her leg again and she took it away, making him sigh in frustration. "Look, I don't like you being here any more than you do, now you can either let me bandage those wounds so you can walk out of here or you can stay in the bed with those cuts reopening every day" he stated matter-of-factly. Zelda eyed him carefully before deciding to give him her leg back, letting him fix her bandages quickly. "Lie back, you opened the wounds on your arms" he stated and she let him fix her pillows to serve as a back support. He carefully grabbed her arms and started taking the bandages off. Zelda suddenly noticed the amount of cuts and bruises that decorated her arms from her wrists to her shoulders; she began to panic again and took her arm away from him to look at it. He glared at her before taking her hand and opening her arm to him, despite her silent protests.

"What happened to me?" she asked him and as expected, he didn't utter a word, she glared at him and took her arm back rather roughly after he was done, she could feel the pain again but she was trying to make a point "Will you answer me?" she almost yelled in frustration.

He looked at her bandages before staring straight at her eyes. "You were in a very unfortunate accident, your arms got cut up from the broken glass from the carriage and you suffered minor injuries in your legs, you can thank your boots for that" he stated as he pointed to the limbs in question. It suddenly dawned on Zelda that she was not wearing the same clothes that she had put on before leaving her room. She was wearing a simple blue dress with a brown corset made of fabric, it had no way to outline her body like her previous one had; her boots were placed away at the bottom of the bed. Her eyes widened and she stared at him, he quickly took the hint "I didn't take them off" he said quickly "But we needed to get you in other clothes" he said simply.

"_We!?_" she said in a panic "Who the hell is _we_!? Who are you!? What the hell is going on!?" she tried to stand from the bed but he quickly hovered over her and placed his hands in her arms, making a small pressure and stopping her from moving. Zelda instinctively lifted a leg to kick him but he grabbed it quickly, applying small pressure to a wound, she suddenly lost all force on her leg and stopped, placing it back down when he pushed it "Let me go" she whimpered.

"All you need to know is that you will be ok" he said, his cold tone had taken a warm tinge that Zelda barely managed to notice, "I didn't change your clothes, in case you're wondering. Whoever did it was female" he said reassuringly, which made Zelda relax slightly under his stare.

After she relaxed he sat down on the chair, picking his bandages up. Zelda noticed that her bandages had dark smudges in them; she then looked at his face and slowly reached a hand to him. Noticing this he made a move to back away from her quickly but he stood still as her hand reached his cheek, she brushed her thumb on it and noticed that it had gone just as dark as his complexion, "What is this?" she said quietly as she stared at the smudge and then at him, he avoided her gaze, looking at his supplies for a few seconds before grabbing a cloth and wiping it on his face.

"Work" he said quietly, Zelda stared at his useless attempts to wipe his face and grabbed the cloth from him.

Seeing as he was struggling with it she felt the need to at least try and help him, "…You're doing it wrong" she stated and looked around, finding a pitcher of water by the table, she dabbed the cloth in it and reached for his face again, getting the same tense reaction that she had gotten before, she glared at him and moved again to grab his cheek and was pleased when he didn't back off. Zelda placed the cloth in his cheek and started gently wiping it, noticing that his skin was only lightly tanned. She slowly continued her work, surprised at the fact that not once had he stopped her from doing so. After she was done she tried for the hair and found it harder to do, so she let it be and handed it back to him when she was done, he continued silently wiping his fingers with the cloth. Zelda leaned back and finally saw her captor's real face; he was stunning, she had never seen such an attractive man in her life before and she couldn't keep her eyes from staring at the icy blue color of his own; no man had ever made her gaze at them the way he did, unlike her friends who pined for many men constantly. He turned his eyes to her as he felt her staring, which made her turn her face to hide a blush that was suddenly forming.

"Thank you" he muttered before going back to try and clean himself. Zelda turned to face him, startled by his sudden act of courtesy.

"… You're welcome" she said quietly.

They both turned to the opening of the bedroom door, where a woman with extravagant-looking clothing draping her body stood. She had dark purple hair that hinted to black that was pulled back into an intricate ponytail fixed with twists and silver eyes that stared at both of them. She wore a warm smile despite the mischievous look in her eyes "I told you to take care of this, boy, when do you plan on feeding her?" she demanded, the man stood up from his chair to face the woman, who almost matched him in height.

"She started struggling so the bandages took longer than they needed" he said and grabbed his things from the bed.

"Well of course she was struggling, you must have scared her half to death with that stare of yours, now get out of here, you're staining my floors" she waved a hand at him, motioning at his entire body, he only gave her a glare before walking to the door. The woman watched him leave and turned to Zelda "You must be starving my dear, can you get up?"

Zelda looked at her legs before replying "I think so…" although she didn't know a thing about the woman she felt that she was not going to hurt her, so she swung her legs gently off the bed and tried to press them on the floor, she found almost no challenge as she tried to stand up.

"Great" the woman chimed and placed her hands on her shoulders to help her move, Zelda let her and allowed the woman to help her outside of the room. Zelda was surprised to see where she was staying after she had passed a quiet hallway that contained several other doors that looked like the one from her room. Flowers were hanged and placed in wall vases and pots that lined the stone columns that held the entire structure of what seemed like a palace, the second-floor railings that gave a vast view of the entrance were decorated in pink and red ribbons and the carpets that lined the floors matched the wooden flooring perfectly, along with the cream colors of the walls. There were several rooms decorated with gold plates that were neatly separated and placed all around the first and second floor. Stairs that entwined themselves to form a bigger entrance fell from the right and left of the second floor and landed in front and in a distance from the giant double doors that led outside the building. There were flower petals where Zelda stepped on and men laughed and danced with girls that had dresses with revealing necklines and open skirts. The woman saw her look at her palace with awe and laughed at her reaction. "I'm sorry, my dear, I haven't even introduced myself. My name is Madame Thea, I am the owner of 'The Velvet Cabaret'"

"'The Velvet Cabaret'?" Zelda asked as she kept staring at the place, she was in a place that she had never seen in her life and found the mere sight of it both impressive and unsettling; she couldn't understand why the decorations and the women displayed something wrong in her view. "Is it some kind of hotel?" she said as she let Thea guide her through the stairs and down to a hallway to her left where she realized they had a kitchen.

Thea laughed "Oh darling no, this is a brothel"

Zelda stopped dead in her tracks. "A… Brothel!?"

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Author's Notes:

Thank you for the review, guest.

This Zelda behaves like the confined little porcelain doll that she has been. And as for the lemon scenes, I intend to go deep into the subject.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Notes:

Donotownblahblahblah

Apparently I will be moving soon to another country. Not sure when but it will be soon. I think this might affect the time I have to publish the chapters. I'll reveal more as things go on their way.

Enjoy.

LLL

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LLL

Zelda stood frozen in place as she started staring at everything again; of course, everything was decorated in a provocative manner, and the men were more than chatting with the women. Zelda had the sudden urge to dash out of the place and find her own way back to the castle but Thea held her in place and pushed her to keep walking to the kitchen. "Maya, can you please make some food for this poor, starving girl?" said Thea sweetly to the cook as she placed Zelda in a table. The kitchen, though considerably smaller than the rest of the palace was clearly for staff use only. The kitchen was in the back of the room but Zelda was able to see most of the activities done in it; it had a table for cooking, cutting and storing that was placed directly in the wall and made a 'U' form to wrap the cooks in a small but comfortable place. Cupboards were set above the table and against the wall, leaving a space between it and the table for work. There was a working sink on the far end of the table and four pillars that adorned the kitchen. Around the room were small round wooden tables where some women sat and drank tea as they chatted happily. Zelda felt too tense to be around these women in a place that had so quickly become filthy to her, and could see that Thea paid no mind to her sudden state of stress.

The woman tending the kitchen looked to be a bit older than Thea, she was attractive as the rest of the girls but had a very strict and grouchy expression on her face; she grabbed a bowl and filled it with a sweet smelling soup and placed it in Zelda's table without looking at her once. Zelda's manners as she ate the soup suddenly caught the attention of Maya who looked up from her vegetables and saw her eat and suddenly realized who she was "Isn't that the princess?" she asked Thea as she pointed a wooden spoon at Zelda.

Thea smiled sweetly at her "Ah yes, we have that little problem, don't we? If someone were to find out that the poor princess was in a brothel, why, her entire reputation would go down in shambles! We can't have that" she shook her head, Zelda could swear the woman just loved to make a theatre play out of everything "Natya, be a dear and help the princess keep a low profile until we can find her some fitting clothes" she waved her hand again and a young woman stood up from her seat in one of the tables; Zelda noticed that she had dark tanned skin, much like her maid, Katerina, but Natya's eyes were bright brown instead of red, her hair was light brown as well. She smiled brightly at Zelda as she sat at her table.

"I know this must be terrifying for you, your Highness" she said happily, too happily for Zelda's liking. "But this is a very friendly place"

"Yes I've noticed" said Zelda, avoiding Natya's eyes, "If it is all well with you I would like to get back home now" she said and started to stand up, but Thea put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back down.

"I'm sorry dear, we can't do that" she said in a serious tone that frightened Zelda, her serious tone completely differed from the cheery disposition that she had a few seconds ago. Zelda decided that she didn't like Thea's serious tone. "I'm afraid that things went different from what we had planned and you'll have to stay with us for a while" Thea looked at Zelda's unhopeful expression and smiled "I know this is not the way you wished to spend your birthday, but we'll take care of you, we promise"

The door beside the kitchen opened widely as a man walked out of what Zelda assumed was another room; the man was wearing brown trousers, dark brown boots and a plain dark green shirt, he was wearing a towel on his head but that didn't hide his dark gold hair completely, the cook said an inaudible word to the man and handed him a glass with what seemed like a warm drink which he took without protest.

"That took long" said Natya, who was also staring at the man by the kitchen.

"And speaking of taking care, Link" Thea called the man over, he lifted his gaze to look at the source of the voice. Zelda looked at the man's unmistakable icy blue eyes and realized that this was the man that had kidnapped her. If she had thought that he looked stunning before then he had been hiding his best features in whatever he had been covered in. Zelda couldn't keep her eyes off him as he saw Thea and then herself; Zelda suddenly felt self-conscious and tried to avoid him as he approached her table. Thea placed her other hand on the man's shoulder "I'll need you to take the princess out so she can pick some clothes for herself"

Both Zelda and Link gave her a surprised look, but Link's stare turned from surprised to annoyed "I can't do it tonight" he stated, Thea's smile turned to a mischievous one and Zelda could see almost anger in her eyes.

"You know what you got yourself into" she said calmly "And I will not take no for an answer" Link took a good look at her before turning his cold look at Zelda; Zelda looked away, not wanting to get caught under his gaze.

"She can't go out like that, everyone will know who she is" he stated.

"Don't worry, Natya will handle everything, won't you dear?" Natya nodded harshly, she had also noticed her boss's sudden change in attitude and did not want to defy her in that state.

"Come on, your Highness, I'll help you" she said and helped her up from her table and outside of the kitchen. Link watched them both walk away.

"We have to give her back" he said seriously. Thea followed his gaze to the girls

"Not yet, your little intervention might have worked for our advantage. Keep an eye on her, she'll want to escape" Link nodded silently and walked out of the kitchen.

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Natya grabbed a comb and started trying to arrange Zelda's hair but gave up soon after, she couldn't get it to fall any other way other than straight down. She placed the comb down and grabbed a pair of scissors, Zelda panicked as she saw the sharp object from the mirror in the dresser. "What are you doing?" she said and turned, trying to back away from the woman; Natya looked at her with apology in her expression.

"I'm sorry, your Highness, but I must at least cut your hair shorter so you can look different" she said and tried to approach Zelda again, who in turn backed away more.

"And how short must it be?" she asked warningly.

"Not too short I promise, but it must be at least barely below the shoulders-"

"No" Zelda stated, interrupting Natya before she continued her work.

"I-I'm sorry… This is Thea's orders" she said and quickly turned Zelda around, cutting her hair in one swift move. The shock of the woman's sudden movements didn't allow Zelda to register what had just happened before she saw her hair fall to the floor. She kept staring at the mirror as tears started to well in her eyes; Zelda couldn't even hear the river of apologies that Natya was giving her while she picked her hair from the floor. Natya turned her to her side "I'm so sorry…" she continued and placed a wet cloth on her face to wipe away all the makeup that Zelda wore. Zelda didn't notice anything that had happened to her until she found herself at the bottom of the grand staircase of the palace, she then saw Natya speaking to Link.

"-She hasn't responded since, I think I overdid it" she said almost apologetically at him, he glanced over at Zelda.

"You did well, no one will recognize her like that" he stated.

Zelda's eyes started to tear up again which caused both Natya and Link to take her through the kitchen and to the attached room, Zelda fell to the floor crying.

"Oh Goddesses" Natya stared as she walked back and forth around the room. Link stared at her in frustration.

"Why's she crying?"

"Girl problems, leave it at that" stated Natya rather annoyed.

Zelda stood up "Girl problems?" she looked at him "_Girl problems!?_ I'm in a horrible place with horrible people who just ran a knife through my hair!" Link and Natya suddenly stood in place, surprised at the princess's burst of anger "I never wanted to be here in the first place and it's because of _you_!" she wailed and pointed at Link, who didn't bother to budge and deny the accusation, "You ruined everything! And in my birthday!" she yelled as she continued to cry inconsolably, Natya glared at Link for him to do something but Zelda began to try and hit him out of frustration. Link avoided her blows and grabbed her by the hands and kept them in place, Zelda gave up trying to pry her arms away from him and sank back into the floor, making Link crouch with her and let go of her hands just in time for her to cover her face with them. Natya crouched down as well to try and soothe her while Link stood back and walked away from her; he returned shortly after, extending a handkerchief for her to grab. She looked at it before grabbing it and wiping her tears with it. After she was done she silently tried to give it back but found in his hand an oddly shaped green hat instead. She looked doubtfully up at him.

"It'll take your mind off the hair for a while… No one will even know" he said. She glared at the ugliness of the hat but took it anyways, placing it around her hair. She looked in the nearest mirror and found herself unrecognizable, and the best part was that she couldn't see her hair.

"Thank you…" she said silently, Natya smiled and clapped her hands together.

"You look lovely, your Highness"

"Don't call her that, otherwise cutting her hair was useless" Link said as he looked at Natya, who placed a hand on her mouth.

"Sorry" she said more to Zelda than to Link, Zelda smiled halfheartedly.

"It's fine" she said and rearranged her hat.

Link crossed his arms "Shall we go?" he asked her and Zelda looked away from the mirror, extending her hand for him to lead her out, instead he approached her and grabbed her by the waist. "Sorry, princess, but we can't have you running away" he said and led her out of the room and through the kitchen, where they would soon be going out after dark. Zelda was excited, despite the horrible situation that she was in, she was going to go out at night.

LLL

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LLL

"Where are we going? Aren't all the stores closed?" she asked Link as they exited the palace.

"It's a few stores run by some friends" he stated as they made their way to the streets, his arm placed protectively on her waist. She had tried to move away from the uncomfortable hold but he would have none of it, stating that she was not to move away from him under any circumstance. Zelda took in his answer and didn't like it, she was starting to hate everyone's avoidance of her questions or just plain vague answers.

"Why can't you just answer me clearly for once?" she said annoyed, crossing her arms.

"The less you know, the better" he stated again. Another vague answer. Zelda glared at the street and made it hard for both of them to stroll. Link pushed her with his arm alone, breaking her intentions. "I see you're not used to getting 'no' for an answer" he said coldly.

"No, I'm not used to getting no answers as an answer" she deadpanned, giving up on her attempt to slow them down.

"Get used to it then" he stated.

"Do you ever have anything nice to say? Besides that wonderful cold glare that you give everyone?" she lifter her eyes to look at him, he was half a head taller than her.

"I don't, and you'll find that out soon enough" he finished and made them both turn down a dark alley. Zelda tensed immediately at the sight of drunken men and mongers roaming through the hallways, she immediately got closer to Link for protection, who in turn placed her arm more protectively around her. "They won't harm you" he said, not breaking his walk.

"I don't want to stay long enough and find that out" she said and tried to fasten her pace, but Link had full control of her now and kept her in place.

"They aren't as bad as you portray them to be" he stated as they got out of the alley and arrived at another poorly lit street.

"They're drunk and they're poor" she stated matter-of-factly, as if that would justify her fear.

"Not all of them are scum, just because life did not deal them a royal card does not mean that they are less than you"

"Well of course they are" she stated proudly, "If they wanted a better life then why not work for it?"

"Because they did, and still it was taken away from them" he said darkly.

Zelda was taken aback by his tone but kept her opinions firm, "Then they should have worked harder"

Link suddenly pulled her a bit roughly to another corner to pass two more hallways filled with more people in despair, he did not comment on Zelda's last words the entire time that they passed the halls but Zelda could see through his expression and the way that he walked that she had clearly pissed him off. She didn't care, if he didn't want her around then he could just let her go.

They arrived at a small door in a building, Link knocked in a strange succession and after a few seconds the door flung open, a large man with a dark beard greeted them from the other side, he wore colorful clothing and a matching vest "Link, my boy!" he bellowed and pulled both of them inside "Who is this? Is she a new girl?" he said as he admired Zelda. She looked away, not liking what he meant with 'new girl'.

"Not really" he stated simply, Zelda thought about yelling that she was the princess but as she saw the assortment of knives that the man carried in his belt she thought better, she didn't know who he was, but he wasn't going to help her.

"What brings you here?" said the man in a happy tone while patting Link on the back

"Thea requested that I bring her, she needs clothes" he said flatly, the man then turned to Zelda, smiling.

"Hello my dear, My name is Borin" he said and grabbed her hand to kiss it, she let him "Welcome to the Hideout of the Gypsies!" he said happily.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's notes:

When I said that I would try to update every Friday I only took into account that maybe I wouldn't be able to write fast enough to meet the deadline every week since some days I am filled with inspiration while some others I lack the will to write entirely, but I was certainly not counting on personal matters to get in the way.

Yes, I did say that I was moving, but that's not the reason why I didn't meet the deadline last week or maybe won't again next week... Honestly I'm not sure where this particular problem is going and I'm afraid of something worse happening.

It's sort of a long story and if I told you then you wouldn't believe me (probably). The short story is that my graduation is being threatened by a teacher who has set her mind to stopping me from graduating at all costs. Yes, even as I'm writing this I know it sounds ridiculous and you have no idea how much I wish I was making it up. Unfortunately, my incomprehensible ability to piss teachers off at random is not in my imagination (it has happened before but not to the extent of stopping me from graduating).

Besides that problem I've also had to go several times to the hospital on my grandmother's behalf and it's... A very difficult and tiring task, to put it nicely... It helps to drain my creativity.

For the record, I will be traveling on the 29th and I don't know if I'll have internet afterwards. Let's hope for the best.

To end this long note I would like to say that at least next wee is going to e very difficult for me since I have to deal with this woman and I don't know what will happen or how long it'll take for whatever needs to happen, to happen, but I hope that this will all be resolved soon just so I can go back to writing a story that brings me such joy.

To those who read this I greatly appreciate it. Please, enjoy the chapter. (Sorry for the grammatical mistakes and others. I couldn't even bring myself to proofread it)

LLL

* * *

LLL

"Gipsies?" she asked, something that tasted disgusting was forming in the back of her throat.

"Yes, my dear! And a friend of Link is a friend of ours!" he said with a wide grin.

"I'm not his friend" she said as she glared at the man still holding her, who did not stare at her in return. Her reaction only caused Borin to laugh.

"Yes, yes, he can be tough to handle at times, but he'll grow on you!" he said and placed his hand on her shoulder, Zelda was getting tired of people touching her. "And what is your name, my dear?"

Before Zelda could utter a word, Link chimed in for her "Hylia"

"Ah, like the Goddess! What a fitting name for you" he said admiringly. Of course, if she said who she really was then they'd know immediately, even though no one could tell who she was at the moment. "Make yourselves at home!" he declared and opened his arm to offer them entrance. Zelda looked around, the stalls were traveling carts that the gypsies used as mobile homes, they hung all sorts of accessories and clothes, along with other items of interest for the gypsies, like bells and coins all fixed in a chain. The building had turned out to be no building at all, but an entire wall that made an oval opening to the night sky and gave the gypsies protection from the eye of the police. There were lanterns all over the place and people were happily dancing and chatting around the stalls and lanterns and music could be heard around the small fortress. Link let go of her so that she could look around freely, but of course kept close to her at all times. Zelda did not like the constant watch but was glad that she could at least move on her own. She tried to look for something that befit her but instead found interesting articles that she had never seen in her life, and despite her uncertainty towards the sanitation and quality of the clothes, she found herself admiring various dresses.

She would often turn to ask Link for his opinion, she didn't know why she bothered but she felt that she wanted someone to talk to as she used to with her friends. "That one" pointed Link at a light blue and white dress that she held in her hand, she happily showed it to the merchant who folded it. Link gave the money required and they continued on. After a while Zelda stopped to look at a woman dancing to the music, the woman's hips swayed with the tune; for some reason Zelda felt like looking away, she didn't know that women could move like that, especially with men watching.

"She is… Talented" she said, finding a deeper interest in a few trinkets by a stall.

"She needs to learn more moves" stated Link calmly, Zelda stared at him in disbelief, how could a woman that moved like that need more moves?

"Moves for what?" she dared to ask, Link didn't answer her and she grew annoyed. "When am I going to know anything?" she asked in annoyance, placing her hands on her hips, Link noticed the attention that they were getting and lowered his head.

"She's dancing to attract attention, so people will give her money, and so that men will give her favors. Dancing like that will get her rupees, but if she learns more she'll get gold, jewelry and even her own host" he explained.

"What do you mean, 'host'?" she asked, suspecting that she wasn't going to like the answer. Link looked down again before answering.

"A host is a man that pays very handsomely to have a woman as his exclusive Dancer"

"Oh… Well, that's… Not so bad" she managed to say, Link looked at her, even though she hadn't gotten the message he didn't comment any further on it.

After the dancing girl was done she spotted Link and hurried to him, she was wearing brown and green clothing that accentuated her legs and waist and had a revealing neckline; her hair was dark as well as her eyes. She happily greeted Link and he in turn greeted her with a nod. Not soon after more women approached Link happily, Zelda saw that almost all the women had come to greet him, giving him special attention over the other men. She started to move away from the group of women but froze as Link gave her a glare. He knew that she was going to try to take this opportunity to run and he wasn't going to let her. He was very unlike her father, he had meant for her to stay by his side. He dismissed the girls quickly and walked to Zelda.

"You even think about it again and I will tie you to me" he threatened, Zelda stared at the ground, preferring to look at anything other than his eyes. His voice relaxed "I suppose I owe you an apology" he said. Zelda looked up at him, the coldness in his eyes had faded away and she found herself trapped in them.

"Why do you say that?" she asked, unable to tear her gaze from him.

"It is your birthday still and I haven't given you a present" he said and presented a small box to her, she slowly took it from his hands and opened it, pulling out a small golden chain bracelet that held the triforce symbol in the middle, Link took it from her hand and placed her in her left wrist, where it fit almost perfectly.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked softly, confusion rattling her mind, he acted so cold at times and so soft in others, he seemed even more bipolar than her friends.

"That" he pointed at her bandaged arms. "And kidnapping you" he said almost regrettably.

"You caused the accident?" she asked him, she didn't want to believe that he was the cause of all her misery, but it wasn't completely false.

"No" he stated simply.

She glared at him "Again with the vague answers"

"I told you it was best if you didn't know" he glared back.

"Since when do you know what's best for me?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa kids!" bellowed Borin as he stood in between them and placed a hand on their shoulders "Lover's quarrels are not accepted here! This is a joyful place!" he said with a huge smile on his face.

"I'm _not_ his lover, I wouldn't even dream of being with him!" she deadpanned; Link opened his mouth to answer but stopped, he stared at her for a few seconds and then looked at the floor.

"…I'm sorry" he said quietly "I ruined her birthday and have been a jerk the entire time"

"Link my boy, how do you expect to keep such a beautiful girl like her if you keep messing up like that?" Borin bellowed and patted him on the back, making him stumble closer to her; he kept his eyes on her and Zelda could see that he was truly apologizing; she bit her lip and looked away from him.

"I… Forgive you" she said slowly, she didn't truly forgive him for kidnapping her and stripping her from her freedom but she couldn't stand to see him hurt like that.

"See? Not a real charmer this one" he whispered to Zelda who had to laugh at that statement. "Since it is your birthday, my dear Hylia, I will let you choose whatever you wish for free" he declared, and everyone around them clapped and congratulated her. She looked around but couldn't find anything that struck her as amazing enough for her to take.

"Can I have this option available for me later?" she asked him.

"Well of course! Come back any time!" he cheered. Zelda smiled warmly at him.

LLL

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LLL

After a while more, Link decided that it was time for them to leave so he grabbed Zelda's clothes in one hand and returned his arm to her waist, making their way out of the hideout and back to the palace, where Thea waited in front of the door. "My dear" she welcomed "Did you have a good time? How was your charming escort?" she mocked Link, who glared at her in return.

"He was fine, thank you" she said simply, Thea crossed her arms.

"Well now we just need to change your name to make the disguise complete"

"Her name's Hylia" stated Link.

Thea eyed the man and nodded in agreement "Such an interesting choice in name…" she mused, Link merely shrugged in response. "It's been quite the day, hasn't it dear? We should make room for you… I believe you'll be staying with Natya for the night" she declared, Natya came down from the stairs and held Zelda's hand to cheerily take her away, she turned back to look at Link, he didn't take his eyes away from her, she kept staring until the hallway blocked her vision of him. They arrived at a room almost similar to the one she had been initially sleeping in. Natya grabbed one pillow from the bed and placed it on a large framed sofa that faced the bed at the end of the room. Natya moved to the closet that was beside the sofa and pulled out a blanket, smiling occasionally at Zelda who just produced her awkward false smile.

"I see you got a gift from Link, that's rare" mused Natya as she looked at Zelda's bracelet.

"How did you know?" she asked in surprise.

"He has this strange obsession with the triforce… He says he's even seen it shine in the back of his hand but I've never seen it" Natya shrugged.

"Why did you say it was rare?" Zelda asked again.

"He doesn't really give presents to many girls" Natya said nonchalantly

Zelda sat in the bed as she looked at the bracelet, placing the triforce between her fingers. "He seems so unhappy all the time" she said more to herself than to Natya.

"Grouchy is more like it, I can see why he'd strike you as unhappy" Natya commented, trying to fix the blanket on the sofa.

"Was he always like that?" Zelda asked as she watched Natya fix the sofa, instinctively touching her arms to see if she still felt pain. She didn't.

"No-Well… Maybe?… I think… No one ever really knows why. He never lets anyone get near enough" she said and growled slightly at the uncooperative sofa. "No one even knows where he came from. Except for Madame Thea of course"

"How come?" Zelda kept asking, it was nice that someone was finally not giving her vague answers.

"Well…" she threw the blanket to the side "No one knows how he got to live here… Some people say that he was part of a group of gypsies that got captured, except for him, others say that he's running from someone and managed to hide here" she tried placing the blanket again "And then there's your more obscure theories… Some people believe that he was raised by wolves… That stare could prove that" Natya laughed, which made Zelda laugh as well "And others even believe him to be the son of Madame Thea, but he's twenty five, Madame Thea swears she would have to be too young to have had him…" she gave up on the blanket and sat down on it in defeat "No one truly knows where he's from, but me, I believe the wolf theory" she grinned "He resembles those beasts with scary accuracy"

Zelda laughed again, indeed that could have just as well been the most accurate theory so far. "And what does he do here?" Natya was about to answer when she suddenly stopped, a chill running through her spine, she looked at the door and then shook her head.

"I… Many things" she stated and looked at the floor, finding a particular interest in her heels. Zelda sighted, everyone was giving her such vague answers it almost made her not ask the questions anymore.

They both chatted happily until Zelda felt tired enough to sleep.

LLL

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LLL

Zelda awoke to the sound of a song the next morning, she sat up and looked around the room but found no hints of Natya anywhere, she sat up on the bed and tried to get the bandages around her body off but realized that they were tightly put in place. She heard the sound of water running and figured that Natya was taking a bath, Zelda thought that she wanted one as well. She was about to get out of the bed when she heard a knock on the door, Natya then came out of the bathroom still wet but with a towel around her body and opened, greeting Link rather cheerfully.

"Morning!" she chimed.

"Morning" he said and came in after she stood out of the entryway. "I'm here to remove the bandages" he announced Zelda, who in turn just kept staring in shock at the scene that she was witnessing. Link brushed her stare off and approached her, extending a hand to her so that she could give him her arm. She slowly complied and he started to cut them off with a pair of scissors. After he was done she looked at her arms, they had no scar or deformation whatsoever. He then kneeled to reach for her legs and cut those bandages as well. They didn't speak the entire time he was there and only did Zelda managed to form words after he was gone.

"Why… How can you greet him in that state?" Natya gave her a quizzical look.

"How?" Zelda motioned to the towel around her, which reached barely above her knees.

"Like that! You're indecent and still wet from the bath!" Natya laughed at the princess's reaction.

"Oh he doesn't care! He's been here far too long to not have seen as much" she said calmly, Zelda just kept staring in horror as Natya looked for a dress to wear.

"Aren't you ashamed?" she asked Natya while she picked a light pink dress for the day.

"This is a brothel… I've let lesser men see more" she shrugged and walked back to the bathroom to change. Zelda sat there trying to take in the events that had just happened. She suddenly felt dirty again, she felt like running away from the palace and away from Link, but she knew that escaping wouldn't be so easy. Natya came out of the bathroom a few minutes later with a couple of towels and placed them beside Zelda. "My bathroom is not made for royalty, but I can try and make it as comfortable as possible" she flashed an apologetic smile at her. Zelda looked at the door leading to the bathroom. She didn't want to go in there, she didn't want to share a bathroom with a whore and she didn't want to be in The Velvet Cabaret anymore. She wanted to run back home and forget that any of this had happened to her in the first place. Suddenly she didn't feel like taking a bath anymore.

"No…" she said slowly "I don't want to go in there and I do not want to be here anymore" she said and stood up from the bed, she tried to leave the room but Natya stopped her.

"Your Highness… I'm sorry, I was instructed to keep an eye on you" she said and tried to calm her down, she reached a hand for her but Zelda slapped her hand before she could touch her.

"I want to leave! I will not be in a whorehouse any longer!" she screamed and pushed Natya away from the door, she started to walk through the hallway when she was stopped by a disapproving sound.

"Tch, tch, such rudeness coming from such an educated lady" said Thea from her double doors at the other end of the hallway, Zelda turned around furious by her statement.

"You will not keep me in a whorehouse! I will not be sharing anything with any of them! Disgusting!" she yelled, which only made Thea shake her head.

"Keep your voice down, little girl. We don't yell in my palace" she said and quickly walked to Zelda, grabbing her roughly by the arm "You will stay put and be nice to my girls, they are not whores and they will not take those insults from anyone, not even you" she said and dug her nails through Zelda's skin, she flinched, she tried to scream but Thea pushed her against the wall and muffled her mouth with a cloth in case Zelda would try and bite her "You better be changing that prejudice opinion of us and of what we do before I make you understand. Men here would pay a lovely coin for a virgin" she said in a low, threatening voice. Zelda could only cower at her statements "Did I make myself clear?" Zelda nodded and Thea let her go "Good" she said in her usual happy tone again. "Natya my dear, is Hylia's bath prepared?" Natya nodded hastily "Well then help her with her bath, would you? And please call Link about that nasty wound" she said and pointed to Zelda's arm. Natya grabbed her gently and Zelda complied, not daring to struggle again.

After she was done she decided to wear a light and dark orange dress with a small vest that matched and of course, her boots. Natya left the room to find Link so that had given her plenty of time to get dressed and ready. Zelda stared at her hair in the dresser, trying to find a way to make it fit for her liking, but ended up placing the odd green hat back again, not willing to accept that her hair had been cut off. Link arrived shortly after with Natya at his heels.

"She, uh… Madame… She" Natya kept stammering, trying to explain the wound to Link, who in turned placed a hand in her shoulder, he gave her a small pat on the shoulder to help her calm down, Natya took a deep breath and smiled at him.

"Can you fix it?" Link nodded and approached Zelda, who held her arm protectively.

"Does it hurt?" Link asked as he took a bottle from one of his pockets. Zelda didn't answer; she only looked away in embarrassment. "You must have said quite the thing to upset her" he continued, damping a napkin with the liquid and placing it in her wound, she flinched in pain.

"What I said is true" she said stubbornly. Link stood up.

"That's your opinion. And if you'd like to keep it that way you better not call the girls 'whores' again" he said almost darkly. She glared at the floor which caused Link to roll his eyes "Maybe if you stopped living in that contrived little world of yours you'd see that things are not as black and white as you'd like them to be" he said and picked up his things "I bet you used to think that Natya was a wonderful girl before you knew what she did" he said and walked out of the door. Zelda watched him leave. He was right, as much as she hated to admit it. She had thought of Natya as a wonderful person before that morning.

"Wait!"


	5. Chapter 5

Author's notes:

Don't own. Sue me.

Well, I wasn't able to fix my problem and instead I have a bigger stack of problems soon to avalanche on me. I decided I don't care, I've spent too much time worrying as it is.

I'm leaving on Sunday, so just to note that I don't know if I'll have internet next Friday, so as an apology I'll update another chapter tomorrow (I just hope I remember to do it).

God I love this story.

Enjoy.

LLL

* * *

LLL

Link stood in the middle of the hallway.

"I…" Zelda started but didn't really know why she had stopped him in the first place. Luckily for her Natya was still there, listening.

"She must be starving Link, can you get her downstairs? No one will bother her if you do" she said sweetly and slightly pushed Zelda to go with him.

"Alright" he said and held his hand for her, which she timidly took. They made their way through the hallway and down the stairs, where she saw many men –some that even she had recognized as noblemen- walking into a room with a woman or courting her outside. She again tried to get close to Link, maybe that way people would notice her less. They arrived at the kitchen, where the cook had already made several plates for breakfast, Zelda sat on a table as Link went to fetch two plates for them.

"… Why are there noblemen here?" she dared to ask him, although she didn't really wish to know the answer, she was too disturbed to find people of high ranks in a dishonorable place.

"Many reasons. Men of all social statuses come here to try and release their tension. It does not always end in the bedroom" he said and finished his breakfast.

"How so?" she asked after having finished her own breakfast.

He stood up "Some of them even come here to try and get through some personal problems" he said and offered his hand to her "I will show you" he said and led her out of the kitchen and through the center of the palace; to the right was two big double doors that led to a quiet garden. The garden was protected from the harsh sunlight by a large portico that let plants and vines decorate it; it gave a romantic glow underneath where loveseats where placed around the garden, separate from each other to create privacy. At the far left sat a man that was nervously chatting with one of the girls, who in turned laughed and complimented him. "That man" said Link "Is trying desperately to learn how to properly speak to a woman without stammering or being that nervous wreck that he is, and she is helping him. The compliments boost his attitude which will later help him court the daughter of his boss"

"Oh" Zelda said in fascination, watching the man nervously cup her hand in his and try his best smile. He looked pathetic next to the calm, collected woman, but Zelda imagined that it must have been excessively hard for him.

"He pays a great deal to just sit there and talk to her for eight hours"

"Eight!?" Zelda repeated.

"When he came in here he couldn't even look at her in the eye" he said simply. Zelda looked back at the couple. Maybe she had judged too harshly.

They both returned to the center of the palace where Thea was waiting. "Ah Link! Always the charmer I see" she said mockingly at him, he merely shrugged her off "Don't let him charm you my dear, he's way more dangerous than he seems" she smiled brightly at Zelda, who in turn smiled shyly back. "Link, dear, I need you to take Hylia out for a walk, introduce her to our friends. She's taken a bit of a shock this morning and if she spent all day here then" she chuckled "Well, she'd go insane! So be a doll and go spend the day with her"

Link merely nodded at the request, not taking his eyes away from the woman who in turn gave him that mischievous smile.

LLL

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LLL

The streets were lined with people walking busily about, women held their umbrellas as they talked with each other or with a gentleman and small children ran about, laughing and smiling. Zelda smiled as she saw the people that she was accustomed to, but couldn't enjoy it further as Link crossed another alleyway, holding her by the waist again. She tried to ignore that little detail as she looked around the place, finding dirt and filth in some corners and beggar women in the others.

"Where are we going?" she asked to change her focus away from the saddening sight.

"Out" he simply stated, Zelda looked at him.

"We are out" she stated. Link looked at her before turning another corner.

"Out to a small market you haven't seen, you'll like it" he corrected himself. Zelda smiled, she at least had managed to get a little more out of him this time.

After crossing a few more alleys they found themselves in an opening, where the building stopped to lead the way for a stone road that connected to grass and a river, Zelda was fascinated at the sight. Stalls filled with flowers and exotic bottles filled the street and people with colorful clothes walked about, smiling to each other. She instinctively moved from Link's grasp and grabbed his arm to lead him with her to the stalls, Link found both this shocking and amusing. "What are we going to buy here?" she asked enthusiastically.

"I need some things" he stated.

"Like what?" she asked with a smile. She felt like bothering him today, not letting him get away with his answers. He stared at her in return. Zelda's smile grew "Is it food?" she continued, he ignored her and started to look around, "Is it jewelry?" he stared at her again, "Is it new dark paint?" he sighted.

"Medicine. I used most of it on you and need more" he gave her a glare, "Happy?"

"Very" she said triumphantly.

"_You!_" Link and Zelda both suddenly turned at the source of the voice, an angry woman with bright orange hair, angry red eyes, white skin and dressed in a large black skirt that was cut on the sides, revealing her legs and a black top that revealed her navel but covered her chest and arms completely, she jingled as she angrily stomped her bare feet on the street, hell bent on arriving to where Link and Zelda were standing.

"Ah hell…" said Link and placed Zelda quickly behind him, the woman arrived and grabbed Link by the shirt, bringing her close to her eye level.

"You son of a bitch! Thea will not protect you this time!" she said and readied her arm for a punch but Link grabbed her, turning her back against him and trapping her arms with his hands, she tried to squirm in his grasp, "I will kill you!" she kept yelling.

"Calm down, Midna" said Link, keeping Midna in place.

Midna managed to free herself from his grasp and faced him again "How _dare_ you leave us alone and run off like that! We even saw you carrying a woman!" she tried to hit him, he stopped her fist.

"Geez, Midna, calm down… You're making a scene" said a calming voice behind her, Midna turned her glare back at the yellow-colored woman who was dressed in the same outfit as she was. This woman, on the other hand, had bright blonde hair and purple eyes.

"Stay out of this Tatl!" she went to snatch Link's shirt again but Tatl pulled her back.

"I can't, we're working, remember? Try to maul him later" she said and dragged Midna back with her. Midna kept screaming revenge at Link as she left.

It suddenly dawned on Link that Zelda wasn't around.

Zelda tried running through the alleyways, careful to avoid anyone walking, stumbling or just lying in the alley, she looked back as she turned the corner that led to an open street to make sure that Link wasn't following her when she suddenly stumbled upon something hard; Zelda fell down onto a puddle and felt her hands and dress fill with dirt. However she had no time to feel disgusted as someone forcibly grabbed her arm and lifted her up.

"Watch where you're going you peasant!" yelled a man in silver armor.

Zelda lifted her head and stared at the guard; he was one of Addison's men. "Please help me! I'm-" the man suddenly lifted his arm to strike her but before his hand could go into contact with her face, the man felt his arm be stopped by something stronger, he turned to see icy blue eyes glaring death into his soul, he regained his senses and took his arm back, drawing his sword at Link.

"You! How dare you touch a noble guard!"

"No noble man hits a woman" Link said, placing himself between Zelda and the man.

"You insolent bastard!" the man yelled and swung his sword at him, Link grabbed his arm, twisted it, forced him to open his palm and grabbed his sword, pointing it at his throat, the man stood still as Link pressed the tip of the sword to his skin, making him lift his arms in defeat. "If you kill me…" he warned "They'll come for you"

"If I kill you they'll never know" he deadpanned. The man swallowed hard. "Leave" the man stared at him before turning on his heel.

"You'll pay for this!" he warned as he ran away.

Link thrust the sword on the floor and turned to Zelda, approaching her; his glare piercing through her and she trembled. Link said nothing and walked right past her, making her stare as he left; she started to feel scared, it would have been better if Link had yelled at her or grabbed her by the arm to pull her with him. She followed.

LLL

* * *

LLL

Zelda stood at the other side of the double doors that led to the covered garden. She had followed Link back into the palace without question, without talking. She had followed him like a puppy and saw him entering the garden, closing the door almost in her face. So there she stood, trying to figure out if she should go out there or not. Zelda couldn't remember the last time she had felt so guilty and she couldn't, for the love of the Goddesses, understand why she was feeling guilty now. Perhaps it had something to do with him saving her from a man that didn't even bother to let her cry for help.

She slowly opened the door, looking around to see if there was indeed any sign of her hero and found him sitting in the far end of the garden to the right, she looked at the floor as she slowly walked towards him. She didn't want to look at him. She couldn't look at him. Zelda event felt his stare as she slowly walked. Finally arriving she sat beside him, straight as she had been taught to, and kept her eyes on her hands.

"Thank you… For helping me" she started, she wasn't really expecting an answer and, of course, she didn't get one. She glanced at his direction and noticed that he was looking at her. She looked back at her hands. "Did he hurt you?"

"No" his answer was simple, but it wasn't filled with anger. There was an awkward pause as she tried to find something else to say to him. "… Did he hurt you?"

"Oh…" she said, surprised to hear him talking again. "No, he didn't have the chance…" she looked at him again and then turned to her hands. "I'm… I'm sorry…" she said quietly.

He didn't answer, avoiding her gaze but not feeling anger at her, Zelda noticed that his expression had changed to something resembling worry, but he frowned quickly after and changed his gaze to the flowers decorating the garden. Zelda wanted to ask him what he was thinking but she decided to leave it at that, she knew by now that he was very reserved to himself, despite being surrounded by a lot of lively people and he wasn't about to change for her curiosity.

He slowly stood up, holding a hand to her "We still have a few things to do before tonight so we should get to them".

"Tonight? What will happen tonight?" she asked and placed her hand on his, standing up and following him back inside the palace.

"Thea wants to invite you to her personal show" he said and opened the door for her, letting her inside first.

"What kind of show?" she asked with interest.

"You'll see" he answered, she wasn't going to push it this time, she knew Link wasn't going to tell her anyways.

They climbed the stairs up to Natya's room, where she was trying to fix her closet, she turned as the door opened and smiled widely at the two people entering. "Hello! Had fun outside?"

"We need you to finish cutting her hair" Zelda stared at Link in shock, she did not want to go through the horrible ordeal again, but as he looked at her she suddenly didn't feel like protesting. She had caused him enough trouble as it was.

"Please… Be careful…" she said quietly to Natya, who gave her in turn an apologetic smile.

"I will be" she said reassuringly and grabbed the pair of scissors again, taking Link's hat off her and started cutting in front of her face, leaving bangs to frame her cheekbones. After a while Natya proudly put her scissors down and took in her work. Zelda was definitely unrecognizable now. Around the contour of her face were bangs that framed her perfectly, she had parted her hair to the left to give her a better effect of her framing and left the length of the her as it was. "What do you think?" she said proudly. Zelda looked at herself in the mirror and was in fact pleased with the outcome; the girls both turned to Link for an opinion who in turn chose to look somewhere else.

"Good job" he said and walked to the door "When you're done we can go prepare for tonight"

"Oh crap! I forgot about that!" said Natya as she started messing up her clothes again, throwing dress and skirt all over the room.

Zelda smiled and left Natya to her mess and walked out with Link, who had refused to turn to her. "Do you like it?" she asked.

"It's… Fitting" he stammered. Zelda laughed.

"You're bad at compliments" she said jokingly. Link turned his head away from her and almost bolted down the flight of stairs, Zelda took her time walking down, laughing at him the entire time.

Night finally arrived, Link and Zelda had gone back to the market to get Link's medicines and some accessories for Zelda's dress; although she didn't know what kind of show she was going to see, she wanted to at least look better than she had been in the past day. Before going to the show she decided to wear the blue dress that she had gotten at the Gipsy market; this dress was long to her feet, where she wore her brown boots -she was not going to give away her little rebellious habit- and covered them completely, the first skirt was white with three blue stripes equally separated and horizontal, the second skirt reached two-thirds of the way down and parted in the middle, held in the waist by a bow, there were ruffles on the sides. The corset had a white outlining with small sleeves on the sides. She had to ask Natya to help her with the corset and found that it had not taken her nearly as long as when she fit into her own dresses. She grabbed a comb and fixed her hair again and decided to leave it down, placing a blue flower on the left side and blue wrist-length gloves. She left Natya to fidget with her own clothes –which she still hadn't found- and walked the hallway to the staircase, and noticed that all the girls in the palace were reunited at the center. Thea was addressing all of them. Link stood in the middle of the girls as well.

"My dears" she began, "This event will hopefully serve you well, I hope that every one of you manages to find a host and live in higher quality" she said with a wide smile, the girls all cheered at her words. "It is time, my dears, go get ready" she said and all the girls started moving outside, but not before approaching Link and giving him a hug. After the last one was done and Thea had also left, Link looked up to find Zelda at the top of the stairs. She looked down and started making her way down the stairs, knowing that Link hadn't gotten his eyes off her. She arrived down and smiled at him; it took him a second before lifting his arm out to her, she gladly took it and they walked calmly out.

They arrived at a theatre at a distance not far from the palace, there was a woman at the door greeting men and noble men alike with a warm smile; she had blonde hair that was tied in a weird knot on the back of her head, making the tips of her hair end on the side, she wore a small hat on her head that was tilted to the side and held a bit pink umbrella with ruffles, which Zelda found strange since it was already night out. Her dress was somewhat like Zelda's only it reached her knees instead, was pink where Zelda's was blue and had large, white, puffy sleeves that reached her elbows, along with a longer collar that covered her neck. There were pink butterflies sewn onto the dress that reached her waist in a snake line and she had two bigger butterfly wings on her back. She wore large white stockings with high heels and had three blue dots below her eyes that followed the outline of it. Her eyes were only half open, as if she had just barely woken up and smelled thickly of roses. As they approached the theatre entrance she took a look at Link and smiled.

"Well… Fancy seeing you here" she said slyly.

"Hello Agitha…" he said almost quietly.

"Why so shy?" she said and got closer to him, which Zelda found slightly annoying. "I thought I wouldn't see you going through the main entrance again…" she mused, at Link's unresponsive staredown with the floor she laughed "Relax, I don't bite" she said and turned to Zelda. "Pretty" she stated and placed herself at the side of the door to let them in. Link passed by her without turning at her direction.

"What was that?" Zelda asked, Link shook his head.

"She's… Weird…" he said and left it at that. Zelda sighted.

They entered through a small hallway between the door and the curtains, Link pushed the curtains to let Zelda in and let her take his arm again. The theatre was enormous, Zelda might have even guessed that it was bigger than the palace but it was hard to make the comparison. The entrance was not in the main floor, but already in the first balcony, the place was oval shaped and had big tables with chairs at the left and right sides, all situated in plain view of the center. Beyond them were cubicles where people could also sit in a group in case they did not desire to sit at the tables. The first balcony was the one closest to the floor, making the other balconies have a staircase effect. The last floor, the fourth one, had the farthest view but also was the one where every spot had a perfect view of every dancer. Each balcony was fairly close, making the theatre wider than it was taller. Zelda noticed this after she saw that the first balcony was barely two steps higher than the center. Link climbed the stairs with her to the second balcony where Madame Thea had the table in the middle of the balcony, a perfect place to see the event. Zelda and Link sat with her at either side to get a good view.

"Are we going to see a play?" asked Zelda at Thea.

"You could call it that my dear. You see, my girls are dancers, and once a month we prepare a dance so that my girls can find themselves a host. If they do then they don't have to keep working to please a different man every day" Zelda was surprised, she hadn't known that there was an alternative to their lifestyle.

"Will they all get one?" she asked, Thea looked slightly sad at this.

"Unfortunately, there's a very few selected girls that actually get to have this privilege. It is not easy to charm a man to give you his favor. Some are even lucky enough to get favored by more than one man and they get to choose who will host them" her expression grew a bit sadder "I wish to have all my girls hosted but it all depends on them". Zelda tried to take this information in.

"I Natya dancing too?" she asked Link, to which he nodded. Zelda found herself praying to the Goddesses to help her more than anyone.

The lights went all down, leaving the small glint of the table lights on. Thea smiled. "It's about to begin"


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Notes:

No, I didn't forget to put the chapter the next day of the last chapter... I was unable to do so given that I needed to do some last minute fixes.

As you might have already guessed, I left and am now with limited internet as expected... At least I've finally managed to get enough internet to post.

Sorry for taking so long.

Enjoy.

* * *

LLL

The curtains of the stage opened, showing musicians placed in a circular pattern, light started to slowly illuminate them as the music was slow and delicate, but as the music started to move quicker the dancers started appearing both on stage and even behind the tables on the balconies. Women dressed with waist corsets with fabric that covered their chest started to dance, some wore skirts up to their thighs that went longer as they circled the women's legs, some were up to their knees and some were long to their feet but were cut highly on the sides. Each of them had a different color as well as different accessories to match the dress. Zelda saw Natya dancing behind her table, she saw the three people sitting and gave them all a wide smile, giggling as she passed by; she was wearing a brown dress with red combinations. Zelda looked at her; Natya looked different from the girl that she had seen in the palace. Natya looked like an adult, provocative woman, even with her playful smile plastered on her face as she moved her hips along with the other women to the rhythm of the music. Zelda could see the women approaching men at the tables and cubicles, sitting on their laps or touching their hair, face or arms. Then the women started singing with the music. Jugglers, performers and even some of the musicians started moving around the theatre, creating an atmosphere around the dancers and giving entertainment. Zelda even recognized one of the dancers as the girl that had wanted to maul Link at the market that same day, she could see Midna glancing at Link with a glare every once in a while. Zelda stared at the scene, shocked and amazed at the women's suggestive dancing.

"Aren't they dancing a bit too… Suggestively?" she asked Link.

"They're provoking" Link explained. "They'll have a chance of getting a host"

"What is a host?" Zelda finally asked. Link glanced at Thea who in turn glanced back at him before explaining.

"A man that will pay for your exclusivity" he said carefully.

"At what?" she asked.

"Being his direct courtesan" he said.

Zelda stared at him. "So they're… They're asking a man to pay exclusively to sleep with him?" she asked in horror, Thea and Link both nodded in silence "But… But I know some of these men… They're nobles with wives and-and…" she couldn't continue, she looked around, some of her father's very men were dancing with the girls, offering them rupees and jewels. "Is this what happens to men? Is this what they do away from their families?" She stood up, immediately thinking about her friend's fathers, their brothers or even their own fiancées in a place like this with women like this.

"Hylia-" Link said and extended a hand to her, she shook her head and ran towards the stairs and down to the door of the theatre. Link got up quickly and left after her, Zelda was passing Agitha as he did.

"A soft girl that one" she said as Link passed by.

"Zelda-" he tried again, careful to not let anyone hear him, it had started raining while they were in the theatre and she was starting to get soaking wet as she hurried nowhere; Link finally managed to get to her and grabbed her by the shoulder, turning her around to face him. She was crying.

"Why…." She continued "These men have families…" she said and started to sob, placing her hands on her face.

"I don't know…" he said quietly.

"Have you done it?" she lifted her head from her hands and stared at him judgingly. Link tensed a bit at her question.

"Have I done what?" he asked calmly.

"Betrayed your fiancée?" she insisted.

"… I don't have one"

"Would you if you did?" she couldn't stop the tears as she insisted.

"Of course not" he said quietly, but that didn't stop her from crying.

"How are you so sure? There are married men in there! If they can betray their fiancées and families then why wouldn't you?" her tears streamed faster, Link's confusion turned to worry. "How will I know if my husband won't betray me if I marry? How will I know that my fiancée is not cheating on me with a courtesan?" she was sobbing louder, unable to keep talking from the frustration.

Link placed his hands on both her shoulders "He won't betray you" he said strongly. Zelda looked up to him again.

"How do you know?"

"Because I won't let him" Zelda stared at Link the determination in his voice was strong. However, that wasn't enough to persuade Zelda to stop crying, she placed her head on her hands again and continued sobbing. Link slowly pulled her to him and embraced her, letting her cry in his chest. He looked around, the rain was getting stronger and if he didn't move to shelter they were sure to get sick. Without words he pulled slightly away from her and took her hands down, he placed a hand on her cheek and wiped below her eyes, wiping both rain and tears.

"My, my, you're both getting soaking wet" an umbrella stopped the heavy rain, Link and Zelda both turned to find Agitha's mellow smile greeting them, an umbrella covering both of them as she held her own. Link took her offer and grabbed the umbrella himself. "This poor girl is going to get sick like a dog if we don't get her out of the rain" she continued and started walking off, Link looked at Zelda and they both silently followed Agitha.

They arrived at a two-story mansion with rounded pillar-like walls that held the big windows, the entrance was a wide door that was decorated in purple. Agitha allowed them in, soaking the rug in the entrance. The house was dimly lit, and Zelda noticed, to her quiet horror, that the flying lights that traveled across the house were fireflies. The center of the entrance hall had, oddly, a giant tree that sprouted from the floor. Many butterflies of just as many different colors covered it as well as the walls and they noticed grasshoppers jumping down the steps that led to the second floor. Agitha walked to a room to her near right and opened it, inviting them in. Agitha gave Link a glance before entering the room with them. The room was fairly big, the interior was also purple, as most of the house was. There was a small door that led to another room at the far end of this one and there was a bed placed just beside the wall to the right. A door to where Zelda assumed was the bathroom was placed at the nearest left. On the floor was a small green rug that sat in front of the bed and beside the bed was s small table with a chair, filled with various types of bottles and objects. There was a small bookcase next to the small table that was filled with many gardening books and bug encyclopedias.

"The next room is for you" Agitha said as she pushed Link with a gloved hand "Hurry up, you're soaking my floor" she giggled and let him enter the room, she then turned to Zelda "Clothes are in the bathroom" she said and walked to let them change.

Zelda took her time trying to get out of her clothes, it was one thing to do it with two women and another to do it alone, and Zelda had barely had time to get accustomed to the change in wardrobe. After she was done fighting against her dress she got on the warm bathtub and too her time warming up; after some time had passed she got up from the tub and dried herself, placing a simple, sleeveless dark blue dress on that reached her ankles. She exited the bathroom to go back to the main room and started picking her things back up; Zelda turned her head to the door to Link's room as she heard voices coming from the side, against her better judgment she pressed her ear against the door and listened.

"Why did you put these here?" Link sounded somewhat angry.

"You don't like them? They seem to suit you much better than those old rags that you wear" Agitha said with a hint of laughter in her voice.

"You know I can't dress like this"

"Why not? I think it makes you look wonderful…" Zelda heard high heels moving on the rug "Of course, if you don't like it, then you could reconsider my offer?"

There was a pause before Zelda heard anything again. "If someone sees me-"

"They won't notice a thing" Agitha said in a mellow tone "And if they do… I think you're very well able to handle yourself"

There was a longer pause before a sigh was heard "Get out" Link sighted in defeat and Zelda heard a door close, followed closely by her own door opening, Zelda quickly moved away from the door and looked at the direction of the door where Agitha was now entering. Agitha took a second staring at Zelda from the door before smiling at her.

"You should really learn how to spy better on people" she said calmly, making Zelda's eyes widen in surprise. Agitha shook her reaction away "Hylia? Is it? A fascinating name…" she said and approached Zelda, walking around her to take a good look at her, she studied Zelda and at times lifted her hands to check on them as well "I wonder what makes Link so interested…" she mused, Zelda was unresponsive, she didn't trust this woman, much less the several bugs that seemed to hang around her; Agitha smiled at Zelda despite the fact that she had gotten no answer from Zelda.

Link came out of the room wearing his new attire: he wore a strong-looking green tunic with chainmail between the tunic and undershirt. He wore a brown belt that had several pouches and he wore protective leather on either side of his arms. He had a pair of old brown boots on that didn't seem to be fazed by the fact that they had seen better days and he wore beige pants that also looked as if they had been treated roughly. Zelda took her time to stare at the man in his new clothing. His clothes obviously stood out from anything that Zelda had ever seen a man wear before. He looked strong, the way a knight should look and she couldn't stop staring. Agitha grinned slightly at this.

After they had been dry and ready, Agitha led them outside of her house, where the rain had stopped pouring down. She gave Link a soft smile with her half-opened eyes, to which Link reacted by completely ignoring her and walking outside, mumbling something that sounded like a thank you. Zelda walked behind him, taking her turn to receive a similar smile by Agitha, but before Zelda could continue outside, Agitha grabbed her arm, stopping her in place "You" she started, her expression not changing "Be careful with this one" she said calmly.

Zelda stared in confusion "What do you mean?"

Agitha's smile widened slightly "Just be careful" Zelda frowned slightly; these cryptic messages seemed to be popular with everyone around her. She was almost starting to miss Salvador's direct commentary. At least he wasn't being cryptic with what he meant.

Zelda politely thanked Agitha and followed Link, instinctively placing her arm around his and letting him quietly lead them back to the Velvet Cabaret.

LLL

* * *

LLL

Thea and the girls had already arrived by the time that Link and Zelda entered the palace. The girls were fussing about, congratulating two girls that had been picked to have a host. At the sight of Link the two girls ran to Link and announced to him the good news, Zelda backed away slightly as the girls jumped to hug him and thanked him; a smile crept to his lips at the sight of joy in the girl's faces. Zelda couldn't help but stare in awe and wonder at the sight of Link actually trying to smile and share their happiness, it made Zelda smile as well.

Thea approached the girls and Link, placing one hand on each of the girl's shoulders "I think it's time to go rest, you two need to be ready for tomorrow" she said with a warm smile on her face. The girls smiled back and ran off to their rooms, followed by most of the girls in the palace, the few others either stayed around the center or went to the kitchen. Thea took her time to look at Link "I see you went to Agitha" she said, taking notice of Link's new choice in clothing.

"It started to rain" he stated "I couldn't let her get sick" he said and motioned to Zelda, who hadn't moved from her spot.

Thea smiled sweetly at Zelda "I see" but when she turned to Link her stare was less amiable "Do you plan to keep those, then?" she almost made it sound like a challenge.

"They were mine to keep" he stated simply. For a reason unknown to Zelda Thea suddenly flashed deep concern for Link.

Thea sighted slightly "I suppose they are…" she placed both hands on his shoulders, staring him almost at eye-level "Just… I wish you wouldn't…" she said quietly.

"It'll be fine…" Link said almost as quietly. Zelda couldn't help but feel as if she was in the middle of a personal discussion between the two.

Thea smiled slightly "I… Suppose… But only for a while, ok?" Link nodded obediently. Thea turned to Zelda who was about to make a move to leave "My dear, Natya has been a horrible mess since you left, why don't you go see what she wants?" said Thea in her theatrical voice, Zelda nodded and started her way up the stairs, she took one last glance at Link who looked back at her before losing sight of him in the hallway.

She arrived at Natya's room and found the girl throwing every piece of clothing she had on her closet to the floor and other pieces of furniture. She noticed that Natya was even too busy to acknowledge her presence on the room.

"Goddess Damned-" she cursed in between throws.

"Natya?" Zelda tried.

"`Motherfucking-" she continued to curse.

Despite Zelda's disgust at the words, she continued to try "Natya?"

"Son of a-"

"Natya!" Natya stopped, finally hearing her name in between curses, she turned a startled gaze at Zelda.

"Oh… I-I'm sorry, I didn't know you were there" she apologized, Zelda shook her head.

"It's quite alright… I just couldn't take your cursing" she said and sat on the bed.

Natya blushed in embarrassment "Sorry…" she sighted and let a piece of clothing that she had in her hand fall to the floor. "It's just- I can't believe I lost! And to Mavia no less!" Zelda gave her a quizzical look and Natya took the hint "Mavia is one of the winning girls… She's been here for almost a week and I've been here for two months! I'm also younger than her! How could she win so easily?" she started picking up her clothes, finally finding her nightgown under a pile of clothes on the floor.

"I don't know" Zelda didn't know what to say, she couldn't understand what was so important about winning a host, no one had bothered to fully explain it to her "What's the difference if she wins today?"

Natya looked at Zelda as if she had asked her what color the sky was, but her expression then turned to doubt and she continued to pick up her clothes "I'm… Not sure if I should tell you… But" Natya took a quick glance at the door and stood quiet for a second, she then shook her head "I suppose since you're staying… You might as well know…" she gave another glace at the door and nervously started placing her clothes back in the closet "I just hope he's not out there listening" Zelda knew that she meant Link, but couldn't understand what was so wrong about telling her anything. "Do you know what a host is?" Natya started slowly.

"A man that pays handsomely for a… A… Courtesan…" Zelda tried her best to not say the word that she so desperately wanted to say, recalling the events that had happened earlier that night.

Natya nodded nervously "Yeah…" Natya nodded, understanding what Zelda actually meant to say "Do you… Fully understand what I- what we do?" she turned to Zelda with worry. Zelda tried her best to not show her disgust and slowly nodded, not wanting to look Natya in the eye. Natya sighted and dropped the rest of her clothes back on the floor and sat next to Zelda on the bed "Look… We don't do this because we want to… Not really… It's just… Complicated" Zelda looked at her.

"How can it be? Can't you do something else? Can't you be a servant girl or work for a store?" Natya gave her a pained look.

"If it was that easy then we wouldn't be having this conversation… I can't explain… We just don't have much of a choice… And this is much more preferable than having to work on the streets"

"What do you mean?" Zelda had genuine curiosity at her statement.

Natya kept glancing at the door "When you work as a courtesan you're treated like a common whore…" she stared at a specific spot on the floor as she continued "Sometimes you even get raped and you don't even get paid a rupee for that" she said sadly, Zelda looked away; she could feel a knot on her throat, the same knot that had been forming every time that someone told her a piece of cruel information that she didn't want to know "In here we are protected, we have rules and lists and even frequent clients" she said in a happier tone "We have not only shelter but we feel protected, we are a large group of women who can be really strong" she glanced at Zelda who gave her a sympathetic smile.

"…Anything else?" Zelda motioned, making Natya snap out of her state.

"Oh right!" another glance at the door "It is true that we sleep with men, but like I said, it is something that we do… Not exactly something we completely enjoy. Sometimes we get a man that is a good experience and sometimes we get someone who's unpleasant… We sometimes have the misfortune that the man liked us and he becomes a regular" she paused, making an expression of disgust, Zelda tried not to feel disgusted herself "But when we get a host, we usually get someone whom we had a connection with, we often make that possible host presents or fulfill a specific fantasy or other thing of the sort. Sometimes the host is the same disgusting man that we didn't want to charm, but it happens less frequently, so we all aspire to have a connection with a man and become their exclusive Dancer, if we do then we don't have to be with any other man" she said happily.

"Oh…" was all Zelda could muster, she was less disgusted about the story as she thought she'd be, and though to her it was wrong to be with a man without having married him first, she could understand the need that Natya had to find a host "Is it… Sort of like a marriage then?"

Natya stared at her "I… Guess you could say that" she smiled at Zelda, who smiled back awkwardly, "We get to keep the host for as long as he wants us, but since we gain popularity for being exclusive it doesn't matter if the man leaves us, we will immediately have a line of potential hosts waiting" she said simply.

"Does this last forever?" asked Zelda.

Natya looked at her in surprise "Wow… Good question" she praised "We can either retire with most of the money that was spent on us, create our own individual palace or inherit Madame Thea's position"

"Did Madame Thea inherit the palace?"

"No" Natya stared at the door "She built it so she's the first owner… I don't know how this came to be though"

"And…" Zelda hesitated, but decided to ask, she was too curious "What does Link do here?"

Natya's expression changed to a panic as she kept staring at the door, as she saw no movement or heard no noise she continued, but with a lower voice than before "I don't know why he hasn't told you yet… I mean, I don't see what the big deal is… So if he bursts through that door please stall him while I escape through the window" Natya half-joked and Zelda laughed, her panic was hilarious "He's here as a sort of bodyguard. If we ever encounter a problem with a man who decides to treat us in a way that we don't like or feel too uncomfortable with we can always count on him to help us" as the door didn't burst open, Natya let out a sigh of relief.

"That's really nice" mused Zelda "But… Doesn't he enter while you…"

Natya didn't let her finish "He does, but he's grown rather indifferent to that, he's like a big watchdog, he barely even acknowledges you in the room, soon as you scream for help he bursts in and his eyes go immediately to the man. He only does a double check to make sure you're ok" she laughed "He blushes when he does!" her laughter was so contagious that soon Zelda was laughing as well "I haven't seen a man do that before and it's adorable!"

Zelda relaxed as she shared Natya's joy, she was not sure why, but she was glad that Link wasn't in the house for any other reason than protection. Zelda was starting to even enjoy talking to Natya about things that she found as unforgivable.

She was learning.

LLL

* * *

LLL

Author's notes:

Thank you for those who have reviewed, I've lost track of who reviewed when, but I thank you nonetheless.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's notes:

Not exceptionally proud of this one cause it's kinda like a songfic and I'm not a fan of those but when you lack the visuals to show your audience what you'd like them to see then you have very little choice.

The song was sort of a high influence in this chapter due to the fact that I was listening to it the entire time I wrote it so I had to put it in there. But again, not exceptionally proud of that.

Well, it turned out good enough anyway so I'm not changing it. I'm sorry for the grammatical errors that you'll probably find but it's getting very hard to proofread them before I post them. In fact, haven't been able to do that at all lately.

On a side note I have to say that I moved to another country with the intention to remain here but unfortunately I have to deal with a lot of paperwork to assure my place so I might not be able to upload frequently.

I hate it when writers don't commit to their deadline too but this escapes my control and I am at least giving a fair warning. I won't quit the story or put it on hiatus, I'm pretty clear on how it must go and end, but I haven't been able to continue to write it due to the amount of things that I'm required to do to stay in my new place. I will eventually have more free time to continue as I have but, for the meantime, you have been warned.

Enjoy.

LLL

* * *

LLL

"Come on Hylia! You don't want to make Madame Thea mad!" Zelda continued to try and fix the blue dress that she had bought from the gypsies, remembering fondly the mornings where her father would get angry at her for being so purposely late, but unlike her father, Madame Thea would have her revenge against Zelda if she pressed her, so she just let it be, completely unsatisfied with the dress and grabbed the green hat that Link had given her and ran down the stairs. Zelda and Natya had been assigned with the task of picking the new flowers that would decorate the new vases that were due to arrive soon.

"Where's Link?" Zelda asked in curiosity, it had been unlikely for her to go outside without him following close behind and as strange as it felt, she wanted him around.

"Whenever he's not here he goes to do errands for Madame Thea" Natya shrugged "He'll be back by night I guess"

"Oh" a breath of disappointment escaped from Zelda, she did not want to have to spend a day without having him around but would have to do with Natya instead.

The central plaza in the busiest part of Hyrule Castle Town was filled with merchants everywhere, both the wealthy and the poor were choosing from a wide variety of items for sale, from food to expensive clothing. It was the busiest day of the week and merchants from all over Hyrule would place their stalls filled with their items, wether expensive or not, and waited for their opportunity to sell. Surely enough people swarmed to the enormous plaza to purchase. The merchants even had an advantage over the regular stores for having traveled all over Hyrule to bring their items to the busiest city, they had even managed to bring the wealthy to a level where they experienced the shopping lives of the poor. Zelda and Natya arrived early at the plaza but found that the place was already overflowing with people; Natya furrowed her brows in frustration as the plaza was flowing with activity. The stalls were placed under the big market structure that was already imposed in the big oval plaza, the pillars that held the second and third floor of the store marketplace served as support and shelter to the makeshift stalls that the merchants had set up for the day. The ceiling even kept both merchant and customer away from the bright daylight that often accompanied the week. Some merchants were even strong enough to withstand the sun and would place their stalls around the plaza center where they backed up on each other, making a perfect circle for customers to walk around. It was in this circle that they would find the beautiful southern flowers that they were looking for. Unfortunately for Zelda and Natya, it was overflowing with angry women screaming at the merchants.

"It is… chaos" whispered Zelda as she took in the screams, the demands and the small fights that broke off every now and then around them.

"Chaos is too small a word" said Natya, looking around desperately for a place to snake in and get the flowers. She saw her opportunity as two wealthy women fought over a rabbit scarf and grabbed Zelda by the hand, roughly pulling Zelda towards the small stall and standing right in front of the seller. They noticed that the seller was a young woman with fiery red hair and bright blue eyes; she was busy trying to place all her flowers back in order. The woman suddenly noticed the change in customer and flashed them a warm smile.

"Hello! Welcome to the Ballad flower stall! My name is Malon and-" she stopped as she took a good look at Natya "Hey!" she then placed her hands on her hips "Are you one of Thea's Dancers?" Natya looked at her Zelda, who had the same confused expression and then turned back to look at Malon.

"Uh, yeah, how did you know?"

"Is Link there?" she asked eagerly.

Natya looked at her suspiciously "Well… Not right now, but he lives there…"

Malon's eyes suddenly glinted with hope "He is? Oh it's been so long! I haven't seen him in years!"

"Uh, excuse me… How do you now Link?" Zelda asked, she couldn't help but be nosy after a woman had stated with such joy that she knew Link.

No, she was not jealous.

"Oh, he and I go way back!" somehow that statement made Zelda feel uncomfortable.

"Not as back as he and I do!" said another voice as she straightened herself up from behind Malon's position, this young woman also had fiery red hair, but unlike Malon, her eyes were brown.

"Oh please Marin, not this again" said Malon, rolling her eyes and paying more attention to the flowers.

Marin frowned at Malon in reply "You just don't want to admit it"

"Yes… That's it" muttered Malon, rolling her eyes at her cousin.

"Girls?" Natya piped in "We'd like flowers"

Malon gave her a look of surprise before their purpose there dawned on her "Oh! Right! What can we do for you?"

"Madame Thea requires orchids and pear blossoms for the palace" stated Natya as she read a small paper that she kept on her pocket.

"You got it!" Malon and Marin nodded in understanding and began searching for the flowers.

Waiting for their order was the hardest part to deal with as Zelda felt herself buffeted by the people walking around her, including those who stepped beside her and tried to push her out of the way. Natya had a better sense of survival and was able to keep both of them in their respective places in the stall, but she could only do so much as more and more people swarmed in. Zelda soon found that Natya was having a harder time holding her wrist near her and soon Zelda was taken away by the swarm of people, Natya was left behind, not being able to see where Zelda had been taken away to. Losing her balance, Zelda bumped into a person who suddenly grabbed her by the arm, turning her to them. He looked dirty from work, almost as dirty and brown as his clothes did. The man reeked of fish and had messy brown hair under his dirty hat; he had a filthy look in his eyes, a filth that, despite the cleanliness of the Dukes that tried to court her, was something that Zelda had seen too often.

"And to think you looked beautiful from afar…" Zelda tried to back away from the man, an instinct that she had picked up from all of her father's parties, but the man noticed her intentions and pulled her arm close to him. Zelda quickly looked around for Natya but found herself alone in a sea of people "Are you looking for that friend of yours? The dark skinned one? Yes, she's pretty but she is nothing compared to you" Zelda felt her skin crawl at the man's suggestive voice "Don't worry, I'll protect you till she comes for you" he said with a crooked smile.

"No, thank you, I think she's looking for me now and I must get back" she tried to flash her usual awkward smile but could only muster a look of fear, the man took this opportunity to turn her body against his, grabbing her by the waist and pressing her against him. Zelda couldn't feel more disgusted than she did at the moment as she stammered what sounded like words, more focused on clawing herself out of the man's grasp, which only got tighter as her struggles got more desperate.

"You sure struggle for a whore, but lucky for you, I like that" he whispered dangerously close to her ear and then ran his tongue around it. Zelda snapped and turned, slapping him.

"I am not a whore!" she yelled and kept struggling to get out of his grasp; to her greater misfortune, the slap didn't cause the man enough of a startle to let her go and as soon as he regained his senses he gave her a sick grin, gripping her tightly against him.

"That's what they all want to believe" he started moving quickly around the mass of people, reaching an alley far from the plaza "Don't worry" he continued as her struggles got more and more desperate, she tried to shout for help but her cries were muffled by the screams of people in the marketplace "You'll learn your place soon enough" he slammed her against the wall at the end of the alley, knocking all air out of her lungs, she quickly fell to the floor, coughing and gasping for air. The man pulled her by the legs and lifted her skirt, placing himself in between them; he grabbed both wrists above her head with one arm and kept her in place with the other. Zelda started to cry in desperation as she struggled to free herself from the man, receiving nothing but a sickening laugh in return. She felt him trying to rip off her dress before something else caught his attention.

A rock hit him hard on the head, the man stood up and turned to the source of his pain and found bright orange hair, white skin and a pair of red eyes filled with rage staring back at him, she held a heavier rock than the one that hit him in her right hand "She's not for sale" she said threateningly.

"You fucking bitch" he pulled a knife out of his pants pocket and started walking to her direction "Maybe I'll just kill you first and then enjoy her all I want" he laughed as he came closer to Midna, flaying his knife around him, Midna didn't budge "Maybe I'll even fuck you before killing you" he mocked, his laugh suddenly died down as he saw the towering figure standing beside Midna, with eyes as cold as death itself.

"He's mine" said Link to Midna, with a voice so threatening that even Midna felt the chilling sting. The man only laughed.

"Who the-" he didn't have time to finish before Link dashed towards him and twisted his arm, breaking it in three different places and forcing him to drop the knife. The man fell to the floor in agony and started screaming insults at Link, who was deaf to his empty threats and just kept moving forward.

Midna watched him walk by the man, not even bothering to say another word in his direction, she knelt down to the wailing man and grabbed him by the hair, pulling him away and basking in his screams. His steps became less dangerous as he approached the huddle husk in the corner that was Zelda and by the time he got close enough he was hesitating in his approach. "Hylia…" he tried, turning around to make sure no one would hear him; he got no reply from her as she kept openly crying into her arms. Link knelt down and tried again, extending a hand towards her shoulder "Hylia…" he said in a lower, softer tone, trying to move as careful as possible as he received no answer for a second time. His hand finally reached her shoulder and the tips of his gloved fingers brushed against the fabric of her dress "Zeld-" he fell back as the entire weight of her body slammed against his chest, clinging to him for dear life and crying desperately into his chest; Link quickly recovered from the shock and straightened himself, holding her in his arms as tightly as he could without hurting her. He tried to soothe her with words but he found that it only made her cry louder.

"He- He tried-" she began to say, unable to form the words through her cries "And I- He- _He almost-!_" she gripped his tunic tighter, trying to hide as further into him as physically possible.

"Shhh…" he tried as soothingly as he could muster, brushing her hair gently with his hand, he couldn't find the words to tell her to calm her down, it seems the more he tried the more desperately she clung to him "It's alright… He won't hurt you anymore…" he whispered, trying to soothe her again and unable to find any other way to calm her down. Zelda made barely a response to his words, unable to calm herself. Link placed his arms on her back and under her legs, lifting her with him as he stood from the floor and started his way out of the alleyway, Zelda hadn't let go of him but her crying had subsided from the desperate yells to a calmer tone that still sounded miserable in Link's ears. He walked out of the alley with Zelda slowly fainting, just in time to find a terrified Natya at the entrance.

LLL

* * *

LLL

Zelda slowly woke up to find herself back in Natya's room, the previous events that had knocked her out slowly coming back. She suddenly had the inevitable urge to start crying again and looked around for any sight of Link, but instead found Natya sitting quietly in front of the bed with her head strictly turned to the floor. At Zelda's movements she looked up and the regret in her eyes became visible "You're up" she stated.

"W-where's Link?" she managed to ask her, tears threatening to fall.

"He'll be back later…" Natya said quietly, lowering her head again.

Outside of the Velvet Cabaret the people were busy walking on the streets, it was past the hours of the night when it was safe to walk about and the few people that remained were hurrying in their way to their homes before they were either robbed or killed. The walks of the busy men and women could be heard even under the bridge that tied Castle Town to the more dangerous part of Hyrule town, the part where thieves were known for exceeding in their violence and where no guard wanted to enter out of mere disgust for the people; there were terrible sounds coming from the filthy part could echo through below the bridge to even a few of Castle Town's alleyways, but nothing sounded as frightening as the slow hums of a little girl that rocked her feet back and forth while sitting on the dividing bridge.

_What will we do with the drunken whaler?_

A shadow walked below the bridge, making small noises as it entered a tunnel, where the echo of the little girl's voice could be heard even louder.

_What will we do with the drunken whaler?_

Deeper inside where the screams of a poor soul that was desperate for someone to hear him and help him out of his prison; his screams went unheard, his voice was drowned by the soft singing of the little girl.

_What will we do with the drunken whaler early in the morning?_

The man deep inside the maze that was the tunnel lifted his head to look around and see if he could find a way out for the millionth time, the soft echoes of the little girl kept ringing in the walls of the tunnels, reaching his ears. He knew he wasn't in the tunnels anymore, the room he was in had been built specifically so that no one would enter there, not even if they managed to get lost in the tunnels. No, this wasn't any part of the tunnels, and the man had a clear idea that he was probably not getting out of there alive, which made his heart race almost to the point of a stroke. The smell of blood infested the room as well as the walls and a large part of the floor; there weren't any bodies around but the man could see many weapons scattered in a table, oddly enough, the weapons were clean and sharp.

_Way hey and up she rises_

_Way hey and up she rises_

There were no windows, just a drain in the corner just under where the man was chained to the wall; he didn't want to figure out why it was so specifically placed under him and just kept screaming. Maybe, just maybe someone would hear him.

_Way hey and up she rises early in the morning_

He suddenly heard footsteps slowly making their way to the door that enclosed him in the room, he tried to shake himself off the chains as he kept screaming for help and saw the person open the door, but was horrified to see who it was.

"Shut up, you're ruining the song" Midna said calmly, entering the room.

"_YOU BITCH! I'LL KILL YOU!" _he tried to threaten, but Midna barely gave him a glance as a response as she placed new tools in the table. The man continued to scream at her, until someone else entered the room. Midna walked outside, closing the door behind her.

Link walked inside, his once green tunic stained in black, as well as his hair and skin, he wore a black scarf around his mouth that he took off as he entered, placing it near the weapons. The man glared at him in rage and fear "WHO ARE YOU?!" he yelled, but as the cold blue eyes made contact with his own eyes, it dawned on him "YOU! I'KLL KILL YOU! I'LL BREAK YOUR ARMS AND FUCK THAT BITCH RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!" he tried his best not to seem scared out of his mind, but it didn't make Link move a muscle in response, as he mused through the weapons.

_Stuff him in a sack and throw him over_

_Stuff him in a sack and throw him over_

Link listened on, despite the empty threats of murder that the man was so desperately yelling at him "No, that would be too merciful"

_Stuff him in a sack and throw him over early in the morning_

"LET ME OUT OF HERE!" the man yelled, pulling at the chains that held him tight.

"I can't do that" Link said simply, moving to the table littered with weapons and grabbing a hookshot, he proceeded to point it at his heart "You tried to rape a woman today, and I don't like that"

"You're gonna kill me then? She your little bitch?" he tried to muster a defying laugh, which sounded desperate even in his own ears "She's not even worth the dirt she was lying on" the man tried to sound as threatening as possible. Link stared at him in return.

_Feed him to the hungry rats for dinner_

_Feed him to the hungry rats for dinner_

"You should have known not to touch her" Link said as he looked at the man.

He dared a sly grin "Why? Did you want to fuck her and just got pissed off that I got to her first?" Link didn't bother to look at him after that statement.

_Feed him to the hungry rats for dinner early in the morning_

"What's wrong?" the man chuckled nervously "Did I hit a nerve?" he suddenly let out a scream as an arrow got struck up into his ribcage, Link slowly pressed the arrow into the man's skin, leaving it in an angle to hang in between his ribs.

_Shoot him through the heart with a loaded pistol_

_Shoot him through the heart with a loaded pistol_

"I don't like guns" the man kept screaming in pain. Link had finally had enough and grabbed him by the collar of his dirty shirt, slamming him hard against the wall and making him lose his breath, the man started coughing loudly, finally quieting down from his screams.

_Shoot him through the heart with a loaded pistol early in the morning_

"If you kill me…" the man coughed "Someone will know… I have a family, they will come find me" he said, hoping to scare him into leaving him be.

"No, they won't" Link said simply, grabbing a whip from the table and attacking the man with it, tying it around his neck and pulling at his direction so the man would choke "They won't even know you left"

_Slice his throat with a rusty cleaver_

_Slice his throat with a rusty cleaver_

_Slice his throat with a rusty cleaver_

Link's lips twisted into a horrible grin as the lyrics hummed by the cell "But first, I'll have some fun"

The sounds of screams and gore decorated the night as the moon rose high in the night sky.

_Early in the morning_


	8. Chapter 8

Thea slowly paced back and forth on the center of the palace, her heels clicking loudly as she walked. Although her presence was regal with an arched back and her eyes staring at high level, the tension could be felt everywhere inside the palace. However the Dancers around her could only look helplessly in her direction, knowing full well that Thea was not to be disturbed, so they went on their daily activities, trying their best not to feel the heavy feeling that drifted in the air. Thea stopped her pacing as she heard the door open; inside entered a man covered completely in black, blue eyes landing directly on Thea as she stared back. She made no noise and only pointed upstairs and, like a good, obedient dog, he climbed behind her without a word. The doors to her room shut quickly after both of them had gone upstairs, leaving the rest of the people inside the palace wonder what was going on.

Thea walked directly to her white desk, which was situated at the far end of the room, along with a matching white long-backed chair that stood behind the desk. There was a red oval carpet that filled most of the room, making it seem as grand as it felt to anyone who entered for the first time. Large floor windows were situated at the right side of the room, they were covered in white curtains that matched the dominant color of the room. A large chandelier hung from the center of the room that held a bright light that filled the room. It was nighttime outside and the curtains covered the windows completely, concealing everything inside from prying eyes outside. The king size bed was situated near the window, making this office-looking room a bit off, however, no one ever entered Thea's room without permission, not even Link, so the look of commodity and business fit perfectly inside.

"_That_" she pointed at the tunic with pure distaste "You're taking it off and burning it" she said with an air of anger in her voice "I don't ever want to see it again"

Link didn't budge from his spot a fair distance from Thea and took out a white handkerchief from one of his pockets, trying uselessly to take off the coal from his face "Thea-"

"_Stop"_ she said threateningly "Did you think that Midna wouldn't say a word?" she took a step towards him "Did you think that _I_ wouldn't find out?" she took a few steps more "Who the _fuck_ do you take me for!?" she raised her voice as she approached him "_I know_ Link! I know what you did and you _promised!_"

Link's head turned violently to the side as Thea's hand made a harsh contact with his cheek, slapping him so hard it had actually managed to make an echo around her room. She took her hand back to look at the coal stains that now remained on her hand and looked at him for an answer, Link didn't move, keeping his head were it had landed and staring at a spot on the floor "I'm sorry" he managed quietly.

Thea sighted in frustration and walked quickly to her desk, throwing her hands at the desk in frustration and turning around, gripping the bridge of her nose desperately. Link didn't budge, Thea wasn't angry at him, he knew that and he knew that he had deserved her to lash out at him, he had broken his promise. "Who was it?" she asked, not looking at him.

"Some day laborer" he turned his head slowly back to the center.

"Why" she glared at him, no longer gripping the bridge of her nose.

"He almost-"

"_I know what happened!"_ she cut him off, slamming her fist against the desk "I know everything that happens, Link!" she kept glaring at him and received only a stern stare to the floor in return "I want to know why you decided to kill him"

"You know why…" he said softly. Thea suddenly regretted having asked that question.

"Link…" she sighted and walked slowly to him "I'm… Sorry" she admitted "I just…" she took another breath of air before speaking "They came here, Link… The royal guards, the police… Obviously they know that she hasn't left the city and if they ever find out…" She grabbed the handkerchief that he had been previously using and lifted his chin up so that she could help him; he refused to look at her still. "Link…" she tried "Please look at me" he reluctantly locked eyes with her and Thea saw the same innocence and pain that she had seen in him many years ago. "I just worry… If they find out… You know what that tunic does to you…"

"It's not the tunic…" he stated sadly and slowly moved her hand away from his face where she had been trying to clean him up "I was wearing it the night that I took Zelda"

"Because I needed you to protect my girls… I didn't want anything to happen to them and I would have let you do anything to protect them" Thea said somewhat angrily "Everytime you put that thing on you change"

"Thea, you can't hide yourself or me from what happened…"

"Really? Because I seem to be doing a very fine job of it until you went back to Agitha's" she said stubbornly, dropping the handkerchief to the floor.

"Thea" his tone changed, as if he had been reprimanding a child "You knew this wasn't going to last forever, you agreed that you'd hold on as long as you could and now it's time to let go" said just as stubbornly "If they find me, then it is long overdue and no one will be able to stop it"

Thea glared at him "What about all I've done?"

"I thank you for that and you know it, but I can't run Thea, not anymore"

She grabbed his arm "Is it because of her? Is she the reason why you've changed your mind?"

He stared straight at her, Thea could always read him like a book "She has a great involvement in what's going on… But she's not the only reason"

"I know that she's not… But up until her arrival you were keeping yourself in line" she looked at him with daring eyes "If she finds out who you are, what you've done, she won't give you a second to run before she sends her father and his dogs to kill you… And if you do outrun them or outfight them, you will be notorious" she looked down at the floor "Don't make me lose you again"

"Thea…" Link sighted, it was always the same fight "What's the point in surviving if I can't live?" Thea looked at him with sadness, she didn't want to fight with Link, not anymore, not today. If she was going to keep this up then she'd keep it up later. He had been punished enough.

"Was she raped?" Thea she asked calmly, trying to deviate the conversation.

"No" he said quietly. Thea sighted in relief.

"Link… They're turning every stone in town trying to find her… You need to be more careful, otherwise all of our efforts will be in vain"

"They won't find her" his tone had softened greatly "We'll return her in time"

"You make sure of that" she said lightly, knowing that he'd be obedient on her orders "I can't believe Natya couldn't spot her, she's too good a shot to ever miss her target"

"The mass of people was too great, Natya had no way of predicting that she'd lose Zelda" he said calmly.

Thea looked at Link for a few seconds before smiling warmly to him "You should take a bath" she said lightheartedly, making Link look down at himself and realize that he was staining the rug, he gave her a small smile back and hugged her suddenly, making Thea gasp in surprise. Link quickly parted from her and walked to the door. Thea stared at him in surprise as he walked out; she hadn't felt him show her that much affection in years.

And then,

It dawned on her.

"_Son of a bitch!"_ Link heard her scream through the door as realization hit her that she was now covered in black coal stains as well. He smirked and walked away.

LLL

* * *

LLL

Zelda stared blankly at the knife in her hand. After Nayta had apologized countless times and was unable to keep Zelda calm she quickly suggested that Zelda make herself dinner to pass the time. Despite her feelings for having to do things for herself that otherwise would have been done for her, Zelda agreed and they both exited Natya's room to go to the kitchen. Maya had been reluctant to leave her post so that Natya and Zelda could prepare dinner for themselves but at the saddened look in Zelda's eyes she agreed with the condition that food would be made for her as well. After receiving several happy explanations on how to start cooking by Natya, Zelda had now been allowed to cut vegetables for the meal, but as she tried to focus on her job she couldn't help but think on previous events. She tensed in her spot, making Natya notice.

"Zelda?" she approached her from her spot by the pots "Do you need help?"

"No…" she said and shook her head "No I'm… I'm fine…" she said and slowly continued to cut the vegetables, but gave up almost as soon as she started "I'm sorry Natya… I… I guess I'm not hungry"

Natya and Zelda turned at the direction that every other courtesan in the kitchen stared at wish wonder or surprise. At the door stood a very blackened Link who found it somewhat surprising that there were still that many women were still up and in the kitchen, even though most of them weren't eating, some of them were instead just talking to each other on the tables. Natya gave Link a bright smile as he approached the kitchen "Hey Link! You hungry?" she said, motioning to the several food items on the table. Link looked at Natya and then at Zelda.

"You're cooking?" he asked.

Natya's smile grew "Yes we are! Care for some food?"

Link looked at Zelda before taking Natya's offer "Are you ok?" he asked her.

Zelda looked timidly at him and then back at her knife "Yes... Thank you…" she noticed that he was covered in coal "Why are you black?"

"Work" he said simply.

Zelda sighted, finding Link's attitude to be just too much at the moment. She glared at him and put the knife down "Will you ever talk to me?"

He stared at her "I have talked to you"

"No" she said, tired of not getting more than one sentence out of him "You haven't told me what you do, who you are, what you like, everything I know about you comes from the mouth of everyone other than you!" she turned completely to face him "You weren't even the one to tell me your name!"

"Why should I tell you about me? I told you it was better if you didn't know anything"

"Why? What's so horrible about knowing? You seem pretty set on making me see that not every filthy monger outside isn't what they seem and yet you refuse to answer me one question without hiding everything from me!" Link glared at her, making her defy his glare in return.

"Your contrived need to see the world in black and white has nothing to do with who I am" he got closer to the kitchen bar that divided them both "Why are you so set on finding out about me?"

"Because this contrived princess wanted to get to know you better!" she got close as well, crossing her arms in defiance "Although I see why it is so hard for my contrived self to get through that thick skull of yours!"

It suddenly dawned on them both that the eyes of all of the girls in the palace were on them, some girls had even gone down to the kitchen to see what was going on. Natya had even fallen into the background, afraid that either of them would turn on her.

Link gave them a look before returning his focus on Zelda, who looked to be very content seeing as how she had gotten the last word on their argument "…You're right, I am thick skulled… I'm sorry…"

Several gasps and murmurs could be heard around the kitchen, Zelda turned around to see the surprised and shocked faces that every courtesan was giving them, more specifically Link. She suddenly felt bad about what she had said "No-I mean… You're not thick skulled… I just wish you wouldn't be so reserved"

"I can't grant you that wish…" he said and walked to the door next to the kitchen, closing himself inside.

"Wow…" Zelda heard Natya say in astonishment "No one has ever been able to push his buttons like that!" Zelda saw the other girls agree with Natya.

"No one except for Thea" said Maya, staring at Zelda with a shocked look in her eyes.

"That was amazing!" said one of the girls with an impressed smile plastered on her face.

"Wonder what's so interesting about you that makes him act that way" said a courtesan who sat on a table near the kitchen.

"What do you mean?" asked Zelda, already too self-conscious and feeling uncomfortable about having an audience to her argument.

"It won't strike you as a surprise that many of us have had our eyes set on him, and the fact that he's so distant just makes him all the more desirable" another courtesan with black hair, tanned skin and a blue dress piped in "But not one of us has been able to get him to open up like that"

"He doesn't even bother to argue, he just gives us a cold stare and that's it, nothing we say can ever budge him to get closer to us, but you" pointed a courtesan with tanned skin, red hair and a red dress "You have even managed to make him argue, the only woman he's ever fought with is Thea… That must make you really interesting to him…"

LLL

* * *

LLL

After most of the courtesans had left the kitchen and the few left had stopped chatting about the recent argument that sprung in the kitchen, Zelda started to realize that cooking was a lot harder than she thought. Natya had tried her best to show her what to do but Zelda always found a way to accidentally ruin it. Natya was starting to lose hope in Zelda ever learning how to cook.

"Uh… Maybe I should finish off here" said Natya, giving Zelda an apologetic smile "You did well for your first time!" she tried to praise, but Zelda just kept glaring at the several vegetables that were badly cut on the table.

"That's nice of you to say Natya, but I know I'm useless" Zelda placed the knife down, still glaring at the vegetables.

The door near the kitchen opened, making the happy chatting of the courtesans stop as they all turned to look at the now clean Link walking out with his undershirt and pants on, a towel in his head. He gave the courtesans a glance which made them immediately turn to their chatting. They weren't going to further comment on the previous events, lest they made him angry.

Link turned his head to where Zelda and Natya stood, Zelda quickly looked away, a feeling of embarrassment creeping up on her. She didn't know what to say or do after having won a fight that she later found she didn't want to win.

"… Would you like dinner?" she asked awkwardly, feeling more uncomfortable under his gaze.

"It's late" he stated.

"Yes, I know…" she glared at the vegetables again "I'm not good at this" she let go of the knife, finally giving up.

"You were gripping the knife wrong" he said and walked in front of her "This makes it easier for you to cut in a straight line" he grabbed the knife and placed it in her hand, using his other to help her grip it in the right position.

"Oh, I see" Zelda smiled at her new discovery and started slowly cutting the vegetables. Natya grinned and winked at Link, slipping silently away from the kitchen and out of the room, where she looked at both of them with a smile before exiting.

"Are you hungry?" Zelda asked after a pause, she was too focused on finally being able to cut the vegetables that she had completely forgotten about the world for a few minutes. She noticed that all of the courtesans had left the room and she was left with Link, who kept watching her silently.

"I am" he said, moving to the inside of the kitchen to check on what Natya had left, which had been the beginnings of a soup. He noticed that all that was missing were the vegetables that Zelda had been trying so hard to cut.

Zelda proudly finished cutting and gave him the vegetables which he put on the soup "What do we have to do now?"

"We wait" he said and walked to a nearby table "If you are feeling tired I can stay and take care of the rest"

"No" she said suddenly, a bit faster than what she had intended "I want to stay…" she sat in front of him, placing her hands on her lap, never forgetting her manners. She tried to avoid his stare, which he kept on her almost the entire time. Growing finally too uncomfortable to bare it, she asked "Why do you always stare at me?" she directed her gaze back at him.

At this question he adverted his gaze to the boiling pot on the kitchen "I'm sorry"

"No" she sighted "Don't apologize" she placed her folded hands on the table "… About earlier… It wasn't my intention to argue, but it bothers me that you won't talk to me"

He looked at her folded hands "…You must miss your life"

She placed her hands back down on her lap, hiding them from his eyes. Zelda looked away when he turned to her "At times… Unlike here, everything is done for me which gives me plenty of time to bother my father"

"How do you bother him?" he asked, clearly interested.

"Well" she laughed "It is expected of me to behave like a regal woman, to do exactly what a future queen should do and to move as delicate as porcelain itself. I must abide by my father's every wish and, if it had been his decision, I would have been married by now to a man of his liking" she looked at him "But I don't like to do these kind of things. I like to wear my boots and ride the horses when father is at work, I've tried climbing a few trees and I've denied every man that my father has presented to me" she sighted "Of course this displeases him and everyone around us but it is who I am. The life that my father has planned for me does not include my happiness… Though he assures that it is for my own well-being"

"He must care deeply for you" said Link as he stood up to check on the soup. He confirmed it to be ready and proceeded to serve it in two bowls. He placed them in front of them and sat back down, grabbing a spoon to eat.

"He… Tries to do what is best for me, but he doesn't know what I want" she said, grabbing her own spoon but not touching the soup. Zelda looked at him before daring to ask her question "Have you… Always been here?"

Link looked at her carefully "I didn't… Grow into a wealthy family…" he said slowly.

Zelda smiled at his declaration "And… Where did you used to live?"

"I'm sorry" he said sternly and continued to eat his soup.

Zelda gave him a stern look but decided to not press it, the previous fight had come out fruitless despite her winning it "Do you like the soup?"

"I do… Thank you" he said, finishing the last spoonfuls.

"You're welcome…" she left her own bowl untouched, placing her spoon back down "I suppose it is getting late…" she stood up making Link stand up with her. Zelda hesitated for a second before walking close to him and giving him a kiss on the cheek, she quickly backed away in time to catch his surprised expression "For saving me…" she smiled softly. Link stood paralyzed in his spot as Zelda made her way out of the kitchen, he watched her give him one last smile as she left. It was lucky she didn't notice the blush forming on his cheeks.

She arrived at another mess of clothes courtesy of Natya, who was sitting on her sofa with a wide smile on her face "Did you have a nice time?"

Zelda blatantly ignored Natya's suggestive tone and smiled back at her "Yes, I finally finished the soup. Link said he enjoyed it"

Natya's smile turned to a surprised stare "He did? Well, isn't that strange?" she grinned slyly at Zelda.

Zelda gave Natya a suspicious look as he arranged her accessories by the bed "Why is it strange?"

"He never eats dinner"

LLL

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LLL

Author's notes: thanks for the reviews, they are very much loved and appreciated


	9. Chapter 9

"Morning!" Zelda smiled at the cheerful greeting coming from Natya as she exited the bathroom in a towel. She had grown accustomed to the courtesan's morning habits. Zelda greeted her back and entered the bathroom, wanting to get ready as soon as possible to go out again. The last few days had not been the best for her but she was always excited when she left the palace to roam the outside world; she had never had a chance to go out to so many places before given that she always needed to go out with her father and no matter where she was she was always guarded by as many soldiers as necessary. Sufficient to say that Zelda's life was lived between walls.

After getting out of the bathroom dressed in a white, short sleeved dress with a dark green corset. She wore her brown boots and put on Link's green hat, which ironically, fit well with the corset. After she was done Zelda exited the bathroom to ask Natya for her opinion "How does it look?" she turned around so that Natya could see.

"The corset needs a little adjustment" said Natya and stood up to fix the corset. "I'm glad you like it, I didn't know if it would fit you" she said happily.

"You have a good eye" Zelda praised "I love it, thank you" Natya gave her a smile and finished tying the lace on the corset "Where am I going today?" Zelda asked eagerly.

"Madame Thea hasn't told me yet, I thought you would go with Link but he has some things to do" Natya said, opening the door for them to exit.

"Where is he going?" despite the fun times that she always had with Natya, she had started to become disappointed whenever Link was too busy to take her out.

"I don't know, he runs errands I guess" shrugged Natya. They arrived at the kitchen where they received a scolding from Maya, they had arrived late again and the cook was not too happy to have to make food all morning. They spotted Link nearest to the kitchen already finishing his food; he stood up from the table and greeted them before walking out of the kitchen. Zelda's eyes suddenly brightened.

"Why don't we follow him?" she suddenly turned to Natya who just stared at him in shock.

"What? Why?" she asked, scared.

Zelda grabbed her arms "That way we can find out what he's doing!" she said happily.

Natya's eyes widened in fear "W-We can't! He will know- and Madame Thea-"

"Come on Natya! I have to know what he's doing!" Zelda complained. If possible, Natya's face expressed even more confusion than before.

"You can't go out without Madame Thea's orders! She'll kill us both!" she tried to reason, but Zelda's determination was immovable.

"We'll come back quickly!" she said, starting to tug Natya to the door, but Natya stopped her.

"We can't, Zelda" she apologized "Maybe we can ask him when he comes back?" she tried, giving Zelda an apologetic smile.

"Natya! Thea's calling!" the shout of one of the courtesans broke into their discussion. Natya looked at the courtesan at by the stairs and smiled.

"Hey! Maybe we can go out no-" Natya's happiness turned to shock and fear as she found no sign of Zelda near her. She gave a desperate look at the main door and at the stairway, frozen in place.

LLL

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LLL

Zelda smiled widely as she found Link barely turning a corner just outside of The Velvet Cabaret. She quickly ran towards the corner and stood behind a lamp post, trying to follow him as closely as possible without him noticing; lucky for Zelda, Link wasn't going fast enough for her to lose him. The day was bustling with people going about their business. Zelda felt happy; no one had run to her to give her false compliments or to tell her that she couldn't run away. She was even proud of herself for escaping Natya's protective duties. She saw Link turn another corner and quickened her pace.

After a while of following Link, Zelda noticed that the building structures were changing from the usual architectural designs to more simple concepts, some even being so simple that they just resembled four plain walls. She started to feel uncomfortable as the people looked less like working men and giggling ladies and more like the mongers that she had seen in a few alleys. She tried to quicken her pace in case she would need for Link's help. At the sight of Link turning to her direction Zelda bolted and hid behind a wall, turning only slightly to make sure that he hadn't spotted her. Link turned back and resumed his way, arriving finally at a small opening surrounded by a few of the simple buildings. The floor, unlike the rest of the city, was openly broken, revealing big patches of grass around the open area. A tree stood a few feet away from the structures, where the city faded and became an open field before reaching the protective walls of Hyrule Castle Town. Zelda hid behind a corner as she watched Link go over at the center of the opening; she saw him stand in the middle quietly before something suddenly jumped on him. Zelda almost let out a scream before realizing that children of various ages came out of every corner to run towards Link. The first one to jump him had been a little girl with blond hair tied into two small ponytails on the sides, she had small bangs covering her forehead and bright blue eyes that made the day feel more refreshing. She wore a red dress with a white skull outline on the bottom corner.

"Hey Link!" she greeted with a wide smile, Link gave her a smile almost as wide. Zelda was having a hard time from keeping her jaw from falling out of sheer shock.

"Hello Aryll" he greeted, the rest of the kids gathered around Link, making incomprehensible questions and tugging at his tunic. Link smiled widely at all of them while carrying Aryll on his shoulder.

"Link!" one boy eagerly called "Tell us a story!" Link smiled placed his hand on his head and ruffled his hair. The boy had red eyes and short white hair and a tanned skin. Somewhat looking like most of the courtesans at the palace.

"Hey who's that?" yelled a girl as she pointed at Zelda. She tried to hide again but Link had already lifted his head to look straight at her.

He was glaring.

The girl ran up to Zelda and pulled her by the hand, bringing her into the small group of children to stand in front of Link. She looked down as she timidly arrived, unable to tear herself away from the girl. Link placed Aryll back on the ground, never removing his gaze from Zelda. She then realized that everyone was staring at her "Why did you follow me here?"

"Is this your fiancée, Link?" Aryll asked suddenly, giving Zelda a warm smile. Link stared at Aryll, slightly surprised.

"She's a friend" he stated simply.

"Did you bring her to meet us, Link?" asked the boy with the red eyes.

"I did, Komali" he said in defeat, placing a hand on Komali's head. He wasn't about to explain the complexities of his life to children.

"What's your name?" asked another girl.

Zelda stared at her and then at Link, unsure of what she should do now that she's been spotted and cornered "Her name is Hylia"

"Wow!" Aryll grinned widely "Are you a Goddess?"

Zelda blushed at the question "No…" she laughed "I'm Hylian, just like you" The kids suddenly started ramming her with questions just like they had been doing to Link a moment ago. Zelda couldn't understand half the questions that they were asking her, she started walking away as they came closer and started tugging at her dress to get attention, but before she could get too far Link walked in between the children, calling their attention. They all turned eagerly at the sound of his voice.

"I'll tell you another story if you bring me two seats" the kids all rushed out of the clearing to obey Link's request, leaving him and Zelda alone for a moment. Zelda tried to avoid his gaze the entire time "You haven't answered me"

"I wanted to know what you were doing the days that you left by yourself" she started "This wouldn't happen if you weren't so secretive with me" she suddenly found herself saying, she immediately regretted ever having thought of those words, as Link's stare grew to a glare.

"What I do is my business, you should stop acting like a child and accept the fact that people won't tell you every detail of their lives if they don't want to" he deadpanned, Zelda could feel the sting of his words as he scolded her; the scolding however, made her feel angry as well.

"Why is it so hard for you to let me in? I am not exactly thrilled to be a hostage but at least I'm trying to make the most of it!" she had not realized that she was being daring at him again, despite the deep fear that he inspired on her when he glared.

Link continued to glare "You can try and find out more about anyone else than me" he stated simply.

"Well I want to know more about you, specifically" she found the strength to say, even though she had started regretting talking, she placed her hands on her hips, trying to seem as defying as he was with her, her expression revealing hesitation and fear "And if you don't then… I'll keep trying to find out" she lifted her head up, the same way she used to do to her father's soldiers whenever she wanted them to know who was truly in charge. It worked most of the time.

Just not today.

Link had stopped glaring, but his unreadable stare was still there, "What a spoiled princess" he said dismissively, making Zelda glare at him in return.

"I am not! How rude of you! How dare you-" She stopped when she saw Link slightly grinning amusedly at her. Zelda blushed right red at both the sudden realization that she was indeed acting like a spoiled princess and at Link's sudden smile directed at her. "A-Are you-" she started to say when the kids came back with two tree stumps that they dragged through the floor, you could tell that they were too heavy for them to carry so they decided to drag in a group.

"Can you tell us a story now?" asked Aryll eagerly as they left the stumps where they could drag them and sat down on the floor to wait for Link. Link nodded and showed Zelda one stump for her to sit first. Zelda gave the stump a quizzical look before carefully sitting on it, wondering if she was going to get her dress dirty. Link sat across from her and in the middle of the kids, changing his expression to a softer one.

"After the hero defeated the Evil King that had enslaved the land, he returned seven years back to regain his childhood, but his fairy friend had decided to leave, making the hero feel alone… So he set out on a quest to look for his friend, but as he roamed the forests he found a strange imp in the woods with a very dark looking mask…"

Link continued his story, making the kids awe at the giant moon that threatened to fall in three days and how the hero had to help all of the people in Termina before the moon fell. Soon enough he had gotten through half of the story, but it had become sunset. Link stopped and stood up, receiving a wave of moans and complaints from the kids.

"But we want to know if the hero gets to save the Zora!" complained one boy.

"You'll know tomorrow" said Link, the kids got up eagerly and started dragging the stumps back. Aryll, however, decided to stay behind.

"Hey, Link… Does he ever get to find his friend?" she said sadly.

Link stared at her "You'll have to wait and see"

"Yeah, I know, but… He couldn't save the Goron and then the butler said that he looked like his kid and… And he found a tree that looked sad… I don't think he'll find his friend, Link" she said sadly, looking at Link as if he could tell her that she was wrong.

Link smiled, she was too smart for his stories "He does save them in the end… You'll understand when you grow up" he placed a hand on her head "And as for his friend… He learns a very important lesson that she teaches him" this statement caused Aryll to smile.

"Really? So it'll all be ok in the end?" she stared at him with hope in her clear blue eyes.

Link nodded "It will" satisfied, Aryll gave him a wide smile and hugged him.

"Thank you, Link!" she said and let go, "I'll see you tomorrow!" she then turned to Zelda "She'll be back too, right Link?"

Zelda looked at Link expectantly, who in turned stared back at her "We'll see" he answered; Aryll nodded and ran to the direction the other kids had taken.

Link looked at Zelda for a moment before offering his arm to her, which she gladly took. They started to make their way back and Zelda couldn't help but feel the need to speak to him, she had learned too much today to not engage in conversation "Are they your relatives?" she started, she didn't know where to start but at least maybe the kid's relation to Link wouldn't be such a secret.

"Most of them are orphans, I make sure they're ok when I can" he revealed, Zelda smiled, it was a good start for a conversation, even if she had to listen to only one sentence.

"I didn't know you knew Hyrule History" she commented.

"It is a very interesting subject for me" he said simply.

"Oh? What about it is interesting to you?" she asked, walking closer to him as she felt a chill crawl up her skin.

"Everything" he stated. Zelda sighted, his answers had seem to shorten.

"Do you believe all the legends? Like the one you were telling just now?" she looked at him for an answer.

"I do… It's not hard to believe…" he said pensively.

"Most people don't seem to think that way" Zelda mused, looking around at the people hanging their clothes and rags on a wire outside their simple houses.

"It's because they don't feel the way that I do… As if I had somehow been there before… As if I had known this all along" he said, deep in thought, Zelda grinned and giggled slightly, making Link snap out of his state and look at her "What's wrong?"

"This is the first time you've said so much to me without being in an argument" she said with a smile, making him blush and turn his gaze strictly at the road ahead, Zelda mentally scolded herself for making him shut down again "I know what you mean… I can also feel a strong connection to our history, and it's a connection that tells me that maybe we could have been involved somehow"

Link turned to look at her with a surprised look on his face "No one has told me that before" Zelda turned to look at him and then quickly turned back, his stare was making her blush again. She didn't like that.

Zelda began absentmindedly touching the triforce bracelet that he had given her as they made their way out of the slums and back to the city.

LLL

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LLL

"What were you thinking! You could have gotten hurt or kidnapped or-" Natya stopped to controlled her anxiety as an apologetic-looking Zelda stood at the front door "Do you know how long I've had to look for you? Oh if you didn't come back Madame Thea would have…" she held her head in her hands as she quickly walked to the stairs and slumped on the third step, unable to calm her state of anxiety.

"I know… I'm so sorry Natya, I won't do it again" Zelda said, approaching the very scared and frustrated Natya, who turned to her with hope in her eyes.

"Please… Please don't… I can't… I was so worried" she breathed, still unable to calm herself, Zelda gave her a small smile and sat beside her, placing her hands around Natya to try and soothe her. It worked and soon Natya was returning to her calm and cheery self.

"So… Nothing happened?" she asked in worry, Zelda shook her head.

"No, I found Link and spent the day with him" Zelda said proudly.

"Ok… In that case I'll go rest… I can't feel my body" said Natya and stood up, walking tiredly to her room. Zelda walked back to where Link stood by the front door, witnessing the small but justified breakdown that Natya was having.

"You shouldn't run off like that" stated Link.

Zelda gave him a glare "I had my reasons"

"You gave her a heart attack" he stated once more, Zelda crossed her arms.

"I know, and I won't do it again…" she said simply, Link gave her a disapproving stare which Zelda shook off.

"You said that you weren't born into a wealthy family… Did you used to live in an orphanage?" Zelda tested, she hadn't gotten enough info like she wanted and the walk back had been shorter than she expected, making it hard to talk about everything that she wanted to cover.

Link gave her a warning glare "I'm sorry… My past is not something you need to know"

Zelda lifted her head to him "Alright, then if I won't hear from you I'll just have to speak myself" she said and grabbed a hold of his arm, pushing him towards the door to the garden; Link gave her a puzzled look to which she just smiled. They arrived at the garden which was lit with the light of the lamp posts that surrounded the garden from outside. She sat in a seat nearby, making him sit right next to her "When I was young, I used to spend time with my friends talking about how it would feel like to be rescued by the charming hero in the legends… Most of them even looked for blond boys to see if they matched the hero's description" she said, laughing slightly "You could have been an option too"

"I couldn't have" he stated simply "I was not wealthy"

"If we had seen you on the streets maybe they would have noticed you" Zelda reassured, to which Link shook his head.

"You wouldn't have seen me" he insisted. Zelda kept quiet, which made him notice her again. He looked down in serious thought, pondering how his next move should be "I… Didn't live… On any district close to where you would have gone…" he said slowly and carefully, keeping an intense contact with the floor as he did.

Zelda turned to look at him "Oh? So you didn't live in the city… Was it where we were?"

"… No… Not exactly… Although it is also in a poor district…" he continued to speak carefully. Zelda could almost see the internal battle that he was having as he slowly revealed bits and pieces of his life to her. She smiled in appreciation of his effort.

"Did you have friends?" she tried, perhaps this he could answer more easily.

"Just one… A girl" he stated. Zelda noticed that the struggle inside him had grown as he was almost glaring at the ground. She decided to try and steer him out of the conversation.

"Tomorrow is the Festival of the Goddesses… I was wondering if I could go" she said slowly, she wanted to see her friends again, at least this once.

"Your father will be there, I cannot let you be there as well" stated Link.

"Please" she begged, grabbing hold of his arm again "I will not run to him… I just want to see it… I will be with you if you like" she kept pleading. Link stared at her intently for a moment, his stare unreadable as always.

"… I will ask Thea" he said finally, keeping his stare on her, making Zelda feel small beside him "And if she approves you will be with me at all times. If you dare run away…" he chose his next words very carefully "… You will never see your father again"

Zelda nodded slowly, knowing full well that Link was very capable of keeping his promise.

The funny thing though,

Was that Zelda had no intention of running.

LLL

* * *

LLL

Author's notes:

Personal thanks to BatoBeato07151129, Y1'148, GameCvilization and ESopre for their last reviews. As always, they are very much appreciated.


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